Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire

by John August

  Although the hag appeared to be human, there was something otherworldly about how she moved. Each step was too big, each gesture exaggerated. She seemed to still be learning how to use this body.

  Wu spotted Arlo and Indra. They motioned with fingers to their mouths—quiet. He nodded.

  The hag completed her circle, still no closer to getting in. “They’re safe,” Arlo whispered.

  “Those wards won’t last forever. We need to find a way to stop her.”

  With a sudden idea, Arlo reached into his right cargo pocket, feeling for the familiar glass container. He pulled it out: his salt shaker.

  “What is that for?”

  “Maybe I can dispel her like the Night Mare.”

  “That won’t work. She wasn’t summoned. This is her home.” She tugged on her ear. Arlo recognized that this meant she was thinking, so he stayed quiet. Still, he wasn’t ready to give up on the salt. He had been carrying it for weeks, anticipating just such an emergency. Maybe it could work as a distraction. Nobody likes having salt thrown on them. Even hags, he presumed.

  Indra began emptying her own pockets. Arlo hadn’t realized she had been grabbing all the items she found in the hut. She held up a dirty glass jar with holes punched in its rusted lid. “This might do it.” Inside, three iridescent bugs scuttled about. “Faerie beetles.”

  Arlo took the jar, marveling at the strange insects. He now understood why Wu had been trying to catch one the day they met. They shimmered, never quite one color.

  The hag knelt down in front of the sled. She pressed her fingers into the dirt. But they weren’t fingers anymore. They were claws. The hag was reverting to her true form: Leathery blue skin covered with scars. A tangle of black hair. Two bone-white horns jutting from her forehead.

  The earth around the hag’s hands began churning, roiling. Then the ground began to shake. Arlo had never felt an actual earthquake, but he was sure this was one.

  The stacked stones that formed the wards began to rattle. Connor suddenly realized the hag’s plan. “Don’t let them fall over!”

  Connor, Wu, Jonas and Julie frantically tried to keep the little towers upright. But the tremors were too strong. One by one, the stones toppled. The wards had fallen.

  “Run!” Connor shouted. “Run for the rocks! Hide!” He pushed them ahead.

  The hag slowly stood. As she craned her neck, her human form reemerged in stages. First her hands, then her legs, finally her face. She smiled darkly. She was enjoying this.

  With one smooth motion, the hag pulled the net from her waist and flung it at Jonas as he ran. It tripped him. He fell hard. The net’s magical fibers began creeping up his legs like a spider wrapping its prey. He screamed in panic.

  Wu and Connor doubled back to help him. With their pocketknives, they began sawing through the threads. With each one they cut, two more took its place. It was futile.

  Indra grabbed Arlo’s arm. “Throw it!”

  He’d completely forgotten he was holding the faerie beetles. Standing up, Arlo took careful aim and threw the jar at the hag with all his might.

  He missed.

  The jar sailed right past her, landing in the dirt beside Wu.

  The hag turned, spotting Arlo. She suddenly lost interest in the others. “Tooble!” she said, her smile growing impossibly wide.

  This was her. This was the voice he had heard calling from the forest.

  Arlo backed away as she approached.

  Indra stepped in front of him as a shield, keeping her gaze low. “I won’t let you hurt him.”

  Arlo pushed her aside. “Just run. She only wants me.” He stood his ground. With no plan other than buying his friends some time, he looked the hag directly in the eye.

  Suddenly, everything was okay.

  No, better than that. Better than it had ever been.

  Arlo found himself back in his almost-too-soft bed, watching the morning sun glisten off the faded snowflake-flowers on the wallpaper. He could smell pancakes with maple syrup, but he was too lazy to get out of bed. He stretched his hand to reach the bell of his Zephyr Fireball Maxx. Ding!

  A knock. He looked over as his mom opened the door. “Are you going to sleep all day?” she asked with a smile. With a hand on her shoulder, Arlo’s dad pushed the door open a little further. “Let him rest. We’ve got a big ride this afternoon. Ten miles!” Arlo flicked the lever on the bell. Ding!

  Cooper looked up from the foot of the bed, where he always slept.

  “Arlo?” the dog asked. “Arlo!” Funny, Cooper had never spoken before. He’d had no idea his dog spoke with a girl’s voice. Cooper seemed upset. That wasn’t like him at all.

  With a growl, Cooper suddenly bit his hand.

  Arlo looked down at the wound. A drop of blood rose to the surface. He looked up to see Indra standing beside him in the valley, one of the hag’s needles in her hand. “Arlo! Run!” she shouted.

  He knew he should move. Hide. Indra was smart, and stubborn, and almost always right. But it was so much easier to just stay put. His parents were there, together, standing in the doorway. If he could just allow himself to believe the illusion, everything would be wonderful.

  “Guys!” shouted Wu. “Duck!”

  Arlo turned to look just as Wu threw the glass jar. It hit the side of the hag’s head, shattering. The panicked faerie beetles immediately sprayed the contents of their unctuous bladders. Upon contact with air, the clear liquid transformed into a sticky purple goo.

  Some got on Arlo’s uniform. Some got in Indra’s hair. But most of it coated the hag’s face, blinding her. She roared so loudly it echoed through the valley.

  Arlo’s trance was broken. He was back in his body, back in the valley. He started running for the rocky slope, Indra right beside him.

  Connor cut through the net entangling Jonas—it had stopped repairing itself. Wu helped them up. All three boys raced for the moraine field, where Julie was already scrambling up the giant rocks.

  Still blinded, the hag howled, thrusting her arms to the sky. As she did, the ground moved again. Twisted wooden spikes erupted from the dirt, each as long as a spear. Arlo recognized them from the pit he’d nearly fallen into when chasing the wisps. No one had dug it. The hag had formed it magically.

  “They’re roots!” shouted Indra. “They’re the roots of the tree.”

  Indeed, each of the long spikes was tipped with a glowing ember. As they shot up, they crisscrossed to form crude barricades.

  The hag couldn’t see her prey, but she could stop them from getting away.

  The spikes kept coming, wave after wave. The only hope was to dodge them and avoid being impaled. Arlo zigged left while Indra zagged right. They were just ten feet apart, but separated by a dozen smoldering posts, each covered in barbs.

  He tripped, rolling to the side just as a new spike burst from the dirt.

  “Get to the rocks!” shouted Connor. “It’s safe there!” He was right: the spikes were only coming out of the valley floor. The rocks were protected. Arlo eyed a path that could take him there. It was only a hundred feet away, but every few steps, he needed to veer left or right as new spikes shot up.

  With a final leap, he scrambled up onto a rock the size of his desk at school. He looked back, astonished to see how dense the field of spikes had become. Beyond them, the hag was still writhing, trying to clear the purple goo from her eyes.

  To his right, he saw Connor, Wu and Jonas all safely off the valley floor. Julie was already tucking into the space between two rocks. But he couldn’t find Indra anywhere.

  “Arlo!” she shouted. She was close. He finally spotted her, boxed in by a dozen spikes. She had nowhere to go.

  He made his way over to her, careful to stay up on the rocks. “You can climb through over here,” he shouted, pointing to the V formed by two crossing posts.

  “I can’t get up there! It’s too high.” Just then, another spike shot up behind her. She was nearly skewered.

  Pulling her hair back, Ind
ra steadied herself. She examined the spikes in front of her. There was simply no way through them. But she suddenly had an idea.

  Indra pulled her belt from her trousers and wrapped it around one of the barbed posts. Gripping the leather tight, she placed one boot up on the pole. The next one, higher. Arlo watched as Indra jumped the belt up a few inches and repeated the process, slowly making her way up like a lumberjack climbing a pole.

  The trickiest part was the transition. She stepped her left foot into the V, praying it would hold her. Then she swung her weight over. There was nothing left to do but—

  “Jump! I’ll catch you!” shouted Arlo.

  Abandoning her belt, Indra leaped. Arlo didn’t so much catch her as provide a landing pad. Both fell back on the rocks, rattled but unhurt.

  “Keep climbing!” shouted Connor. “Spread out!”

  Arlo looked up at the rocky slope above him. It was as wide as a football field, filled with nooks and pockets. That made it the perfect place to hide. And hiding seemed to be their only hope.

  * * *

  As he wedged himself into the narrow gap beneath a boulder, Arlo was suddenly glad to be the smallest kid in Rangers. It just might keep him alive.

  The rocks were slick from melting snow. He could feel the cold soaking through the back of his uniform as he inched his way deeper.

  From this angle, he could only see the top of the ever-burning pine tree as it sent a coil of smoke rising into the purple sky. He could only hear the blood rushing in his ears.

  Maybe they had gotten away. Maybe the hag was searching the forest, rather than the rocky slope. Maybe—

  “Tooble! Tooooo-ble!” Her voice was like a rusty hinge. It was the same way you would call a dog to dinner. Except Arlo was the meal.

  Exhaling, Arlo squeezed further into the crevice. A small orange lizard suddenly darted out, annoyed by this intruder. Each of the creature’s three eyes blinked in succession, studying the boy. Arlo made a mental note to look up the lizard when he got home.

  If he got home.

  To his right, he heard claws on the rocks. The hag was close. Arlo’s perfect hiding spot now seemed far less ideal. He had left himself no escape path. Either she would find him or she wouldn’t, and there was nothing he could do.

  A woman’s bare foot stepped into view, the tattered edge of her filthy dress draping across her calf. Her skin was clean and smooth as marble.

  At the edge of the rocks, the three-eyed lizard stared up, transfixed—until a clawed hand suddenly snatched it up. Arlo listened as the hag crunched through the lizard’s bones, finishing it with a slurp.

  Whatever enchantment the hag was using to appear beautiful was interrupted by her eating. Arlo watched as the hag’s ankles turned deep blue, with boils and scars erupting. Worms slithered just beneath the skin. Her toenails were actually jagged black talons, scraping on the stones.

  With a groan, she was gone. Arlo could only guess that she had climbed on top of the boulder to get a better view of the moraine field.

  Arlo knew he needed to stay put. As seconds turned to minutes, he started to shiver, as much from adrenaline as from the cold. His left foot was going numb. Plus he couldn’t really breathe.

  To distract himself, Arlo silently mouthed the words to the Vow:

  Loyal, brave, kind and true—

  Keeper of the Old and New—

  I guard the wild,

  Defend the weak,

  Mark the path,

  And virtue seek.

  Forest spirits hear me now

  As I speak my Ranger’s Vow.

  Arlo smiled. It was the first time he had gotten the right words in the right order.

  Assuming he escaped the hag, and found his friends, and somehow made it out of the Long Woods—assuming he survived at all—he would earn Squirrel rank for sure.

  But first, he needed to move. He couldn’t risk staying in this spot any longer. The icy water seeping through the rocks would eventually lead to hypothermia. He needed to find somewhere drier to hide.

  He very slowly began to inch his way towards the light. His shirt buttons caught on a tiny ledge of rock. There wasn’t room to wedge his fingers in to help, so he exhaled completely, sucking in his chest. That did it. He wiggled his way past the obstacle and took a deep breath.

  Arlo listened for claws. For footsteps. For grit sliding between the rocks. There was nothing but the wind. If the hag was close, she was completely silent.

  He reached his hand around the edge of the rock.

  Then he heard it: the tinkling bells of a cat’s collar. The sound of the purple goo. He froze.

  It was close. It had to be the hag, except—funny, he hadn’t heard it when she was standing right there. Maybe she had magically rid herself of the goo.

  Then why was he hearing it now?

  He slowly pulled his arm back under the rock. Again, he heard the jingling. It was coming from him. He turned his cuff around to find the spot of purple goo on his sleeve. He sighed with relief. Then—

  A scream. It was a girl. Julie, not Indra. She was far away.

  Arlo scooted the rest of the way out, trying to get his bearings. It was starting to rain—snow, actually, but it melted as it fell, forming a fine mist.

  “Help! Somebody!” The voice was coming from down the slope. He climbed up on a boulder, surveying the field. Connor was nearby. He spotted Wu about halfway down, trying to find a way up.

  Then he saw the hag. She was far down the slope, dragging Julie by the hair. They were atop a flat boulder.

  A thunderclap. The hag looked up at Connor, curious. He shot three snaplights at her. They didn’t hurt, but they distracted her enough that Julie was able to wriggle free, escaping back down between the rocks.

  Another snaplight whipped past, this time from a different direction. It had to be Jonas. Then a third—which fell short. Indra. Wu was trying too, but the light never left his fingers.

  “Keep trying!” shouted Connor. “Distract her!”

  Arlo looked at his dirty hand. He had no idea if he could actually throw a snaplight. He’d never even gotten a shimmer. But he had to try.

  He cocked his arm like he was pitching a baseball. As his hand rose, he felt a tingle, like static electricity. It was the same energy he sensed in the rope when he was tying the knaught, only this time it was inside him.

  He pressed his thumb to his third finger.

  A spark. A rush. Arlo could sense the air bending around him.

  In one smooth motion, his elbow straightened. His hand flicked forward. His index finger pointed directly at the hag.

  And he snapped.

  The light was blinding, like a camera flash in a dark room. It crackled as it left his fingertip, tracing a straight line through the air. It didn’t arc. It was too fast. Too strong.

  He could see the mist ripple, a radiant crease in the air.

  The bolt hit the hag square in the chest, blasting her off the rock. Arlo watched as she fell out of sight.

  He looked at his hand in disbelief. A snaplight shouldn’t do that. It was just light, after all—no heat, no force. Yet it had hit her like a cannonball.

  “What was that?!” shouted Wu.

  “I don’t know.”

  The air smelled like lightning. Arlo checked his fingertips. They were raw and red from climbing the rock, but not scorched. He had no idea how he’d done it, or if he could ever do it again.

  Down the slope, Julie carefully climbed up on the boulder, looking over the edge. “Guys! Come down here!”

  Arlo and the rest of the patrol made their way down to her. Other than scrapes and bruises, none of them were hurt. Arlo was the last to arrive at the edge of the moraine field. The last to see what had happened.

  The hag had fallen on one of her spikes. It had skewered her through the chest, leaving her dangling helplessly a few feet off the ground.

  There was no blood. The wound was completely dry.

  In fact, everything about the fores
t witch seemed desiccated. Her blue skin was rough as bark. Her fingers looked like bent twigs.

  “She’s turning into wood,” said Indra. Arlo could see she was right. The change had started in her chest, but was quickly spreading. In a few moments, she would transform completely.

  The hag’s dark eyes—fast becoming tree knots—fixed on Arlo. He stepped closer, unafraid. He felt a mix of pity and disgust.

  “Why were you trying to kill me?” he asked.

  The hag smiled, a few teeth falling out. She lifted her twig hand, pointing at Arlo’s mismatched eyes.

  “Tooble,” she whispered.

  And then she was gone. Arlo could feel her spirit depart, leaving behind just a wooden husk. Whatever answers the hag might have had, she took them with her.

  30

  THE WAY BACK

  THE HAG WAS GONE.

  With her passing, the spiky roots began retreating back into the dirt, leaving small pockmarks across the valley floor. As it descended, the hag’s wooden body cracked into pieces, indistinguishable from common kindling.

  The pine tree kept burning. Its magic was apparently independent of hers. The fire that had seemed so menacing was now almost comforting. It reminded Arlo of that first campfire at Ram’s Meadow, back before all their lives were in peril.

  Standing around the sled, the patrol drank from their water bottles. Connor gathered the ward stones, just in case. Indra reattached the rope. The twins rinsed their scrapes and applied bandages.

  No one spoke. They were too exhausted, too keyed up.

  Wu finished the last of his water. He screwed the cap back on. “Guys?” he asked. “How do we get out of here?”

  They were all thinking the same thing. While the hag had been the immediate threat, the bigger concern was geography. They were in the wrong world, without any idea how to get back to their own.

  Julie spoke first. “We need to stay put. That’s what our parents taught us when we were little. When you’re lost in the woods, you look for an open space and stay there. That way, the search parties can find you.”

  “Like they found Connor and Katie?” asked Indra. She immediately regretted her tone. Julie was close to tears. “I’m sorry. It’s just that no one knows we’re in the Long Woods. We can’t expect anyone to find us here. At least, not anyone we want to find us.”