"Your multitasking friends."
"How?"
"By protecting us from the monobrains."
Lilly frowned at her brother. "Zack, we're monobrains, too."
"Not like them. Not like those busybodies in town who squealed on us. We'd have been fine if--"
"Here we go again," Lilly groaned. "Let it go. It's all water under the bridge."
"No it's not. They're still after us aren't they, the cops and that government lady?"
"And what do you expect Carole to do about them?"
"She's a multitasker."
"I'm really no different from you and Lilly, Zack."
"Still, if what you say about The Hub is true... Can you imagine blitzing off to different dimensions all the time? What a ride!"
"It hasn't been a whole lot of fun, so far."
"You could at least ask that professor guy, couldn't you, Carole? Sounds like he's pretty high up in the scheme of things."
"I've got to get back there, first."
"And in the meantime maybe you could teach us some stuff, too, while we're looking for the connector, of course."
"What sort of stuff?"
"You know pig talk and other multitasking things."
"I've lived here all my life, remember? I don't even know what multitaskers are."
Zack gave her a shrewd look. "You talk with pigs."
"Only the brainy ones."
"So you must have other powers."
Carole collected the empty bowls and took them over to the sink. "You have to go to school at The Hub to learn that kind of stuff, and Professor Philamount said even that's no guarantee."
"What sort of stuff?"
"I don't know."
"Tell me again, exactly how is it you managed to escape from the boiling mist, after you were already surrounded? You kinda left that part out."
"Oh, well..." Carole picked up a rag and began washing. "It was dumb luck, really. I managed to run down the hill before it got too hot."
"The mist just let you get away?"
"Well no. It tried to stop me but the edges weren't as thick, so I could still push through."
"You just ran away from it?"
"Pretty much."
"Everything else gets boiled alive, but you're able to trot off."
"I told you it was dumb luck."
Zack looked as if he was about to challenge Carole further, but instead said, "Could you at least teach us to understand pig talk?"
"I don't know how I do that either, Zack, but guess I could try, so long as Runt's willing."
"What do you say, Runt?"
"Rit."
"Was that a yes?"
"It was," Carole confirmed.
"Then it's a deal, right Lil?"
"I suppose it's not like we're never coming back." Lilly looked around the tiny cabin. "I guess if we locked the place up. All right count me in."
"Yes!" Zack pumped his arm triumphantly.
Runt, ignoring Carole's frosty stare, trotted over to a corner and curled up.
"That's not a bad idea," Lilly said. "We should all get some sleep if we plan on leaving first thing in the morning. But first..." She pulled out a needle and thread. "Let me take care of that rip in your skirt, Carole."
* * *
- 16 -
The day was ideal. The weather held warm and bright, and the four made good time despite losing sight of the path and having to backtrack every so often. At one point the Boar's Head Trail wound behind a small waterfall, which proved too much of a temptation for Runt and Zack.
Once behind the curtain of water, they began nudging and butting each other until they lost their balance and tumbled into the cascade. Carole and Lilly rushed to the other side and found them splashing happily along in the current.
"What are you doing? This isn't a picnic." Carole leveled a finger at Runt. "And after the dogs and the well, you should know better."
Later, while Zack ducked behind some bushes to wring out his clothes, Lilly said, "I'm sorry about my brother, Carole. He gets a little carried away sometimes."
"So I've noticed."
"It's just that... Grandpa pretty much raised us on his own. We didn't have a whole lot, which never bothered us, but..."
"Not a lot of time for fun and games."
"It wasn't that bad, least not until we had to switch schools. You know how some kids can be."
"Don't I."
"Zack was always coming home with a black eye or a fat lip or something. Grandpa would be furious, even though the other kids usually looked worse."
"Kids?"
"Oh, they never took him on one-at-a-time, especially not after Grandpa taught Zack to box. Even so, it seemed Grandpa was always at the school because of one thing or another. Not that it did much good, and Zack certainly didn't help matters any. Finally Grandpa had had enough. He pulled us out altogether and began to teach us himself."
"At home?"
"Yup."
"Was it better than school?"
Lilly chuckled. "Grandpa's idea of teaching, was to drop something on the table and say, 'Figure out what it is and tell me what it's good for.'"
"And did you?"
"Usually. We used the town library a lot and sometimes he'd throw in a hint or two, but we learned most stuff ourselves."
"Funny, I never thought of that."
"What?"
"Schooling at home."
"Well, Grandpa was also getting weaker and the schoolhouse really was too far away. It just made more sense. Then he died last winter," Lilly said. "He seemed so peaceful at the time; said he was really looking forward to the rest. It was almost hard to be sad, but our troubles with the law began soon after, so we never had time to think about it much. Mostly we were just trying not to get caught.
"And then you and Runt turned up and now here we are, actually following the pig path with a pig and a multitasker."
"I won't do that again," Zack said as he walked up. His shoes were squelching with each step. "Lucky you don't wear clothes, pig."
Runt rolled his eyes.
By late afternoon they were footsore, hungry, and ready to call it a day. Zack ranged ahead to find a suitable campsite, but jogged back only minutes later with unexpected news. "You won't believe this. Someone's ditched a raft in the middle of a crick over there, and it's loaded with stuff. Bags of gear. This is our lucky day!"
Shortly, the four were lying behind a clump of weeds, studying the pup tent that had been pitched on the raft.
"Abandoned huh?" Lilly whispered.
"It was," Zack whispered back, "ten minutes ago."
"We'd best go around," Carole said.
They'd begun to inch away when the tent door flapped open and a boy with a freckly face under a mop of red hair, popped out.
"Hey, he's just a kid," Zack said. "It's no big deal."
"Unless he's got friends in there," Lilly countered.
"Do you see the size of him? No one else could fit in that little tent."
"You don't really know that."
"Oh come on, there's still the three of us. Four if you count Runt. Besides the guys got a ton of stuff. He must be loaded. Maybe he'd be willing to trade for some of it."
"As if we've got anything worth trading," Lilly said.
"It is only a one man tent," Carole said, "and if he's from around here, he might know something. I'll check it out, be back in a sec." She got to her feet and walked into the open.
"Huh!" The stocky redhead jumped up. "Where'd you come from?"
"That way," Carole pointed at the twins, who were running up. "What are you doing?"
"What's it look like!?"
"Like you're stuck in the mud." Zack snickered.
"So I took the wrong fork in the stream and bottomed out. Could've happened to anybody. I'll make my way back to the main branch tomorrow."
Zack stuck his arm into the water. It didn't reach half to his elbow. "I'd say you're stuck here till next spring, unless you plan on draggi
ng your raft all the way back."
"Who asked you?" The boy balled his hands into fists.
Zack looked him over, and snorted.
"Oh, what's the use." He plopped down on a duffel bag. "You're probably right. I should have left weeks ago when the water was still running high."
"Why didn't you?" Zack said.
"Didn't get home in time to finish my raft."
"Why not?"
"I was still at the academy."
"Boarding school? You could've waited until next year."
"Didn't want to."
"Where you headed?"
"That's enough Zack. He's got problems enough without having you rub his face in it." Lilly said.
"I'm just asking a couple questions."
Lilly turned to the boy. "Don't mind my brother. He considers himself a expert on everything, especially things he knows nothing about."
"Those two are Zack and Lilly Deville," Carole said, trying to regain control of the conversation. "And my name's Carole Sylphwood."
"Reeet!" Runt spoke up from beside Carole.
"Oh sorry. And this is Runt." Carole said.
"A pet pig, too? I'm Martin, Martin Banks."
"You live nearby?"
"Upstream quite a ways."
"Oh," she said, disappointed.
"Why don't we invite Martin to have dinner with us?" Lilly suggested.
"Hey, it's not like we even know the guy, or have food to spare," Zack said.
Martin reached into the bag next to the one he was sitting on and pulled out a handful of packages. He tossed one to Carole. "You can use some of these, if you want. Like he said, I'm not going anywhere fast. Most of this stuff will probably just go to waste."
In a flash Zack had kicked off his shoes, rolled up his pants, and was wading over to the raft. He clambered aboard and began rummaging through Martin's supplies.
"Hey!" Martin tried to pull him away from a bag.
"You should see all this stuff!" Zack continued to root. "He's even got a little kerosene cook stove. What are these, nesting pots?"
"Get your nose out of my gear!"
"All right, all right. Keep your shirt on." Zack came up with a package. "What are these, dried beans? Gross."
"They're not so bad once you get used to them. But I've got other stuff too, soups or rice if you'd prefer. Umm... If you want, you can even camp here for the night. It's not such a bad spot. Plenty of water."
"Sounds good to me," Zack said.
"What do you think, Carole?" Lilly said.
Carole frowned. "Seems the three of you have already decided."
After dinner they were relaxing by the stream when Lilly suddenly blurted out, "Carole, if he's okay with it, why not ask Martin to come along with us?"
Carole stared at Lilly in alarm, but before she could answer the world bucked violently and she slipped into the ground as if it was quicksand. "Runt!" she managed to scream before the icy darkness closed over her head.
"Reet!" Runt raced to where Carole had been sitting and began pawing frantically at the ground.
"Holy crap! That's not funny, Sylphwood." Martin sprang to his feet and spun a quick circle. "Where you hiding?"
"Reeeet, reeet, reet!" Runt looked pleadingly towards Zack.
"I don't talk pig!" Zack said, as he scrambled over and poked at the ground. "Where did she go?"
Runt hopped up and down on the spot. "Reeet!" he stared into Zack's face.
"I know, I know. We're all freaked out."
Runt snorted in disgust and looked at Lilly. "Rit rit!" He jumped again.
"That means something," Lilly said. "Your jumping means something, doesn't it Runt."
Runt nodded.
"Listen you guys," Martin said, as he planted his hands on his hips, "if this is some sort of twisted joke I'm not buying, so you might as well come clean."
"Are you trying to tell us something about Carole?" Lilly said to Runt.
"Reet!" he nodded and hopped again.
"She...jumped?"
"Reet, reet reet." Runt stood on his hind feet and did a clumsy pirouette.
"Okay, so she jumped," Zack said. "Where? I can't see her."
"Into another dimension!" Lilly exclaimed. "I get it now. Carole just made a dimensional leap, didn't she Runt."
"Ret," Runt said sadly.
"Zack!" Martin hollered.
"What?"
"I'm talking to you."
"We're kinda busy in case you hadn't noticed, Martin."
"What the heck's going on?"
"You explain it to him, Lil. Come on Runt. Let's try and sniff her out. Maybe we can find this other dimension. Maybe it's floating nearby."
* * *
- 17 -
The cold pressed against Carole's face. She squeezed her lips tight. She had to keep the dirt out; had to conserve air. But she was buried under ground! She struggled not to scream. Clamped her hands over her mouth.
She'd just moved her hands! When she waved an arm about, it moved freely but with some resistance. Almost as if she was in... Water! She opened an eye and saw only blackness, but it was water.
How far under was she? Where was the surface? Was there even a surface? She groped frantically until her hand struck something cold and slimy.
She recoiled in fear. But there was no time to be scared. She poked and then grasped the slippery thing.
It didn't chomp on her arm. She pulled. It felt like a rope.
Her lungs were burning. She tugged. Nothing. She yanked. The line gave a little.
She was out of time. She followed the line, terrified to let go, terrified she was swimming deeper. At last she broke through the surface and greedily sucked in lungfuls of air.
What is this place? For all she knew, deadly predators were closing in; snakes, alligators or worse. She glanced overhead and saw tiny twinkling lights. Stars!
Something brushed past her shoulder. "Aie!"
She shoved at the thing, but her fists bounced off a spongy object that hardly moved. She kicked, and it still didn't move. When she probed it, she felt a smooth leathery surface. Whatever it was, it seemed to be floating. Carole pulled herself out of the water, onto it.
As she settled, two small moons snuck out from behind clouds. Now that she could see her surroundings, Carole found herself sitting atop a lily pad the size of a small raft. All around her were leaves. There were hundreds of them. Perhaps thousands. "Ah." She smiled, suddenly understanding about the underwater rope.
Carole became aware of a sweet fragrance, permeating the air. The lilies? She reached for a nearby flower poking up through the water and sniffed. It did have a pleasant aroma, but nothing near as strong as that other smell. She absently licked off a drop of water hanging from her nose. It was sugary. She tasted another drop. The water was sweet! She leaned over the edge of the plant and palmed lake water into her mouth. Nectar!
"Twin moons, giant lily pads and a sweet-water lake," she mused. Looking around, she spied a glistening shoreline less than a hundred feet away. "Yes!" She slipped back into the water and stroked for shore.
With all the lily pads in the way, she ended up crawling more than swimming, but eventually she reached a sandy beach. Looking at the sand, she wondered. She touched a finger to the ground and licked it. "Blech!" Carole spat the grit out of her mouth. It was regular beach sand.
Beyond a narrow strip of bordering grass stood a towering deciduous forest. With memories of the Ghostly Spirit Realm still fresh in her mind, she decided to keep clear of the woods. In fact, she wondered if it'd be smarter to wait out the night on one of the lilies instead of on the beach.
As she was trying to make up her mind, a gigantic moon rose above the horizon. It reflected more than enough light to give her a complete view of her surroundings; a view which left her breathless. Amber water lilies and their enormous pearly leaves stretched over the lake for as far as she could see. What open water there was between the plants sparkled like many colored jewels.
> When Carole glanced at her own wet body, she saw that she too was shimmering.
The forest began to whisper under the influence of a warming breeze. As Carole turned to look, she found herself breathless yet again, for the tree trunks were thick columns of burnished silver, while their leaves, silver underneath and emerald on top, quivered radiantly. This place was nothing at all like the Ghostly Spirit Realm. This land was beautiful.
A new sound, like the delicate tones of far off church bells echoed over the water. The sound grew in volume, until she could recognize not only the chiming of bells, but also merry laughter. She peered across the lake.
Half-a-dozen figures were skimming along the surface, approaching at a tremendous rate. As they neared, the figures transformed into water skiers, zigzagging their way towards her. Water skiers...but not exactly human. The lead skier was a woman, arrayed in long gossamer cloth, which flowed behind like the tail of a kite. She was exceptionally beautiful but quite tiny, and she wore a sparkling crown. She also sported a pair of wings, but was being towed by a dragonfly the size of a Great Dane.
On the heels of this regal skier came six other wildly dressed creatures. Three were carving out sparkling wakes behind giant dragonflies, while the others were carrying baggage under the power of their own wings. Just before they reached Carole, the skiers released their winged steeds, closed ranks and landed as one.
The woman with the crown extended a graceful arm towards Carole. "Did I not tell you it was so! I felt a tremulous pulse from the celestial spheres. Now here before us stands what can only be a Hub witch, though a very young one who, by the looks of her, hath certainly seen more than her share of adventure. How exciting!"
Carole tried unsuccessfully to brush her dripping mop of hair out her eyes with one hand, while smoothing her tattered skirt with the other.
"Yes, your Majesty." The most wildly dressed of the group bowed low while intertwining his longish toes together. "Correct in your divination, as always. Though I wish you would have waited at least until a few of the forest guard had returned from their sortie to escort your most noble personage. What with these days of nights, I cannot personally admit that this mad dash was an extremely wise thing to do." The speaker looked much older and wizened than the other faeries, with white patches of beard growing from his face in all directions.
The Lost Witch Page 10
