Julianna winced, but merely said, “Nothing important.” She glanced back at Copernicus and met his eyes; he’d obviously been listening to their conversation, because he looked pretty worried too.
At last, our ragtag band of travelers reached the place where they were going to meet up with Corrine. They had made good time since there were fewer menacing hoards out at night, so they found themselves with an hour to kill before Corrine joined them.
“Make him comfy over there by that log,” Phil directed Copernicus and Julianna, pointing to an old fallen tree covered in moss. “But don’t let him sleep anymore. He might not wake up. I’ll watch for his sister. Be ready to run when I say so.”
“Might not wake up!?” Julianna hissed at Phil, her blood running cold.
He shrugged. “The kid’s doing pretty bad.”
Julianna stared from Phil to Warren, feeling shaky and sick.
Phil pointed to his four gang pals who were hovering around in the shadows, and he conveyed with some sort of sign language something that must have been meaningful to them, because they all nodded upon seeing the gestures, then dispersed out into the trees at regular intervals.
Phil positioned himself behind a tree and stood motionless, his eyes trained on the cave.
Julianna and Copernicus busied themselves trying to keep Warren engaged in conversation.
Warren tried in vain to fall asleep.
Copernicus kept finding himself staring at his brother’s back. He had to tell Phil that he had not become a writer but had stayed with the life of crime. Phil needed to know the truth. Copernicus might not get another chance to come clean. “You got this?” he asked Julianna, gesturing toward Warren.
She nodded and watched him walk over to his brother. They began what turned quickly into a very quiet, but very heated, argument. She looked back at Warren, then and said in a falsely jolly voice, “Boy, will it be good to be out of this forest!”
“Mmm hmm,” he agreed and added in a nearly incomprehensible slur, “Need to find a wizard or a doctor or something soon. Think I might have a concussion.”
She blinked at him with surprise, took his hands in hers, and said, “Um, Warren, you do have a concussion. No question.”
He looked surprised. “No way. Seriously?”
“Yeah,” she said uneasily. “You’re all dizzy and out of it, and your speech is really slurred.”
“Shoot,” he said and stared vacantly ahead of him for a bit. “That’s not good, right?”
“No,” she said, opting for honesty. “No, it’s not good.” She decided to let the conversation die out, but to watch him like a hawk to make sure he didn’t doze off.
Time passed.
Phil and Copernicus fought some more.
Julianna worried and watched.
Warren sat there feeling confused and in pain and vaguely uneasy.
An owl hooted.
The four gang members stood around shuffling their feet and cleaning out their fingernails and stuff like that.
Suddenly Phil put up a hand to silence them all, though he and his brother were the only ones talking. “Up!” he whispered sharply. “Get ready to run!”
Copernicus darted over and helped Julianna get Warren to his feet. They all waited for Corrine. Just a few seconds later, she ran from the clearing and into their midst.
As soon as she was there, Phil cut the rope around her wrists, and they all began to run. Phil took Corrine by the arm to guide her until her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the Forest. Running as fast as you can run while concurrently trying to be as silent as you can be, all while racing with eight other people around trees and over logs in the middle of the night is no easy feat.
Actually, it’s impossible.
So, it didn’t take Phil too long to realize that they might have a little more luck if he sent his four pals off in another direction to confuse Mirabella.
He told them to scram, and off they went, leaving Julianna, Corrine, Warren, Copernicus, and Phil racing for the border of the Forest of Looming Death.
Once Corrine’s eyes had adjusted to the dark, it didn’t take her long to notice that Warren was stumbling along with Julianna on one side of him and some big thug on the other side. She couldn’t stop and she couldn’t speak, so she couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. All she could do was worry and cast anxious glances his way.
It wasn’t long before they began to hear signs of pursuit. Or, not so much signs as blatant announcements. “Corrine!” they heard Mirabella yelling from somewhere behind them.
It hadn’t even been four minutes.
“Really? Are you seriously trying to run away?” Mirabella roared. She sounded ornery. And close. But then, she wasn’t being slowed by either an invalid or by a need for silence. And she had the advantage of being able to hear her quarry as they blundered on ahead of her.
“Oh forget about trying to be quiet,” Phil grumbled as he looked behind him and began to pick up the pace. “She’s on our trail and she’s not going to lose it.” He stopped a moment to get his bearings, and Corrine nearly ran into him. “Let’s try to get her caught in a trap.”
He shifted direction, and the rest of them followed.
Julianna, who was holding Warren’s right arm, felt him slowing and tried to urge him on while at the same time feeling horrible because she knew that he was really tired and that his head was probably throbbing with each jarring step. Rest was, of course, out of the question since Warren was the one that Mirabella and Farland really had wanted in the first place. Plus, the faster they went, the sooner Warren would be out of the Forest—and surely there was a doctor or a wizard among the guards.
Now that they were no longer bothering with being quiet, Corrine was able to ask, “What’s wrong with Warren?” She trotted up beside Julianna and peeked at her brother.
“He got hit on the head. He’s got a concussion,” Julianna panted.
“Here’s one of our traps,” Phil said suddenly. “Careful not to fall in.” He pointed to the area in question on the ground and led the group carefully around the edge that only he knew the perimeter of. Once they were safely around it, they all began to run again.
About a minute later, they heard a muffled crash and a roar of rage from behind them.
“Did it actually work?” Julianna asked. “Did she really fall in?”
They all halted for a moment and listened intently.
“I don’t hear anyone following us…” Phil said uncertainly.
“Should we go back and check?” asked Corrine.
“No,” Phil said. “It could be a trick.” He began to jog.
“That seemed way too easy,” Copernicus said.
“Yeah. Well she doesn’t know too much about the Forest. She sticks pretty much to her cave. So she doesn’t know where the traps are,” Phil pointed out. “And anyway, we’re not in the clear. She’ll be out of that trap soon and following us again.”
“You think she’ll be able to climb out?” Copernicus asked.
“She’ll get help. All she needs to do is holler, and someone will hear. She’ll bribe them with vegetables from her garden—we’re all pretty starved for veggies out here—and then she’ll be after us again.”
“Do you think we have time to give Warren a rest?” asked Corrine.
“He needs to get out of here more than he needs a rest,” Phil snapped, and trotted on.
Corrine shot him a glare.
Julianna whispered, “He’s right. Warren’s going to keep getting worse until he gets help.”
As they ran on, both women looked at Warren.
He looked back at them and slurred, “My head hurts.” Then he tripped. Copernicus and Julianna righted him.
Copernicus said reassuringly, “We’ve got to be nearly there. Right Phil?”
“Yup,” h
e answered.
“Why haven’t we been attacked?” Julianna asked.
“It’s nighttime,” Phil said over his shoulder while inwardly thinking how annoying it was that he had to keep on pointing out the obvious to these people. “Most everyone’s asleep. There are a few groups who work nights, but not too many. And only groups of five or six would bother messing with a group of our size.”
Everyone was just thinking how nice that was, when one of those groups of 3rd shift prisoners materialized before them. Our ragtag band of intrepid underdog heroes halted in their tracks and braced themselves for whatever was about to happen.
A quick appraisal of the situation told them that they were surrounded by seven big, tough-looking silhouettes. Moonlight glinted off a few sharp-looking blades.
Chapter Thirty-eight
Hoping to stop the fight before it started, Julianna took a step toward the biggest, toughest looking silhouette and said, “How much do you want? We’ve still got plenty of gold.”
“We don’t want your money; we want that lady,” came a grumbly voice that sounded like it belonged to a talking bear. “Er, wait, is that the lady we want? I didn’t realize there were two ladies in this group...or are you a dude?”
“I’m a lady too,” sighed Julianna and decided it was high time to remove her newsboy cap and rub off the goatee and moustache Warren had painted on with mud; the goatee was mostly all flaked off anyway. As she rubbed at the mud smeared on her face, she said, “And you aren’t taking her. We came here to rescue her, and that’s what we’re going to do.” In this pronouncement she used her best Royal Person Voice, and the thugs found themselves momentarily second-guessing their mission.
“Yeah!” said Copernicus in a pointless, confrontational way that added nothing to the dialogue, but ratcheted up the hostility a few notches.
Corrine listened anxiously, surprised that Mirabella had gotten word to these thugs so fast. But they didn’t have an invalid in tow. And speaking of the invalid, how was she going to make sure that Warren didn’t get hurt in this fight? She needed to stop them before they started, or Warren was going to get hit in the head. And she needed, preferably, to stop the fight in a way that didn’t involve her going along with these thugs back to Mirabella’s cave. But the last thing Warren needed was another knock to the head, so if she had to, she’d just agree to go back with them to the cave.
While Corrine was pondering all this, the lead thug was coming to the conclusion that he’d better get this thing going. Without preamble, he tossed a dagger at Phil. Phil dodged it, of course, because he had fancy reflexes; the dagger thunked harmlessly into a tree trunk, but even though no harm had come to Phil, that dagger toss signaled the beginning of a big squabble. Phil did what he could to fight the attackers off singlehandedly, but even though he was awesome he was only one and they were seven.
Copernicus watched, and realized that he had to leave protecting Warren to the chicks; his skills as a thug were best used punching these people, not being a bodyguard.
Julianna briefly considered joining the fight. After all, she had gotten some personal defense training in the dungeon. But now was simply not the time for her first real-world test of her skills. Warren needed protection.
It became clear quickly that this fight was going to end badly for the good guys; the attackers were getting closer and closer to Warren, Corrine, and Julianna.
Corrine looked at Julianna and said, “I’m going to run for it. Which way is the border of the Forest?”
“Um, that way I think,” Julianna pointed in the direction they’d been heading. “But you can’t run off alone!”
“If I can sneak away and get far enough, then I can yell at them and they’ll chase me. Since the only reason they’re here is because they want me,” Corrine explained hurriedly. “As soon as they follow me, you guys all run.”
“But Corrine—”
“You get Warren out of here!” Corrine hissed. “This is his only chance! I will not let my little brother die. Do you understand me?”
Julianna swallowed, and nodded.
“Good. I am entrusting his safety to you,” Corrine growled.
Julianna gave another nod.
Corrine watched the fight for a few moments and sprinted away as soon as it looked like the majority of the attackers were pretty distracted by Phil and Copernicus.
“What? What’s going on?” Warren asked anxiously, staring after his sister.
Julianna watched with horror as Corrine leapt away, but to her relief Corrine actually managed to cover some good ground without being noticed.
Corrine turned once she was nearly hidden in the shadows of the trees and yelled, “Hey! I’m over here!”
They were all too busy fighting to notice.
“Hey!” Corrine yelled again.
No reaction. The guys just kept punching and slashing at each other.
“Guys!” Julianna joined in. “Look! She’s gone!”
One of the attackers looked over at her questioningly.
Julianna explained, “The lady you’re supposed to be getting. She’s gone. Over there.” She pointed to Corrine.
Corrine waved energetically. “Hi!”
“Arg!” yelled the guy.
Corrine ran.
The guy ran after her, notifying his comrades of this turn of events as he went. His pals stopped what they were doing and stared after him for a few moments (time enough for Copernicus to land a punch to the side of one of their heads and for Phil to flip one to the ground) then, those who were able ran after their friend, who was running after Corrine, who was running for the edge of the Forest.
“What’s she doing!?” Copernicus roared.
“She’s giving us a chance to get Warren out safely!” Julianna said quickly. “Let’s go!”
“But we’re supposed to rescue her!” Copernicus fumed, staring at the trees where she’d disappeared.
“She’ll be fine,” Julianna said apprehensively. “She’s heading in the right direction, right Phil?”
Phil looked around at the trees for a few moments and then nodded. He said uncertainly, “She’s nearly out. She’ll be all right.” He didn’t add that she’d be all right only if the guards didn’t shoot her on sight thinking she was a prisoner making a run for it.
Copernicus sighed and said, “Right, let’s move.” It had occurred to him that if they all managed to get out of this forest, Corrine would be very grateful to those who had gotten her little brother to safety. He glanced one more time at the direction she’d run and thought about what a brave lady she was. Then he took Warren’s arm, and he and an impatient Julianna started to run again, at a different angle from the one Corrine had run, with Warren bumping along between them. Phil took up the rear, watching intently over his shoulder for Mirabella, who he was expecting at any moment to come tearing through the trees with some thugs at her heels.
However, after just a smidgen more running, they were amazed to see the clearing through the trees ahead of them.
“Yay!” Julianna cried. “Look!”
“Okay,” Phil said, “You guys be careful on the edge. You don’t want the guards to get overexcited and run you through before you have a chance to explain yourselves.” He was glad this was almost over—he was exhausted and didn’t think he had the energy to do much more than trudge back to his lean-to and collapse on his pile of leaves.
Copernicus halted and looked sadly at his brother. He’d forgotten that he’d have to leave Phil behind. “Phil—” he spluttered. “Phil, I’m so sorry—I’m sorry I didn’t become a writer. I’m sorry I didn’t change my ways…”
Phil clapped him on the shoulder. “No use dwelling on the past, Copper. Just promise me that from here on out you’ll try to follow your dreams and—” This heartfelt, brotherly exchange was interrupted by a holler from behind him.
&
nbsp; “Stop right there!” came the harsh voice of Mirabella. “You guys have been making me soooo angry. You think I like traipsing about the—”
“GO!!” Phil yelled at them.
They went.
Phil turned to face Mirabella and the three big thugs who were trailing in her wake. He gritted his teeth, squared his shoulders, and positioned himself between our heroes and the villains.
The last thing Copernicus saw as he glanced over his shoulder was Mirabella advancing toward Phil, looking positively livid.
“Guards!” Julianna yelled, thinking it best to give some warning of their impending exit from The Forest. “Guards! Don’t attack us!”
And without further ado, Julianna and Copernicus dragged Warren out of the Forest of Looming Death and into safety.
Chapter Thirty-nine
For the second time in the past few days, Warren woke up in a strange place after having been concussed. He blinked into the semi-darkness of the room and tried to figure out where he was. Remembering well from his previous concussion that it would be unwise to sit up quickly, he cleared his throat carefully and called out, “Hello?” in the direction of what appeared to be the room’s only door; there was light shining through the cracks around it.
No answer.
“Hello!?” he tried a bit louder and winced. But it didn’t seem to hurt as badly as when he’d woken up from his other concussion.
There was shuffling from behind the door, and a few seconds later Copernicus came in. He smiled, and whispered, “Hi. How are you feeling?”
“What happened?” Warren asked. “I don’t remember getting here.”
“You were pretty out of it toward the end. We got out of The Forest and—”
Warren cut in suddenly, “Corrine! Did we get her?”
Copernicus nodded and smiled. “Yes. It took her a while because she had to hide for a bit from the people chasing her, but she got out too. She saved you, you know. Quite a lady.”
Warren raised an eyebrow at Copernicus’s obvious admiration. “Is she here? And where are we?”
How to Break an Evil Curse Page 33