by Moira Murphy
“Let me look at the map, again, please? Humor me,” Tessa begged.
“Here.” He maneuvered the book from the bag, handing it to her; defeated.
“It looks like there are mountains surrounding the entire forest, and then after that there’s… I don’t know. You drew this, you look at it.” She offered the book to him.
“Even if I read it, where are we going? We don’t know where to go from here. There’s no red marker. I don’t know where to go. It’s not like it’s labeled with ‘magical portal to Pennsylvania’ or ‘Tuck and Niko are here.’” He shut the book.
“Are you lost?” They heard a voice from behind them. They turned to see a woman, about five feet tall. She had light purple wavy hair down her back, with eyebrows and eyelashes to match. She wore a black sun dress, and her abnormally small feet had dirty orange Chuck Taylor sneakers covering them. In her hands, she held two large brown bags. She smiled and lifted her eyebrows, asking the question again, “Are you lost?”
“Uhh…” Sullivan muttered.
“Yes, we are.” Tessa elbowed him.
“Well, where are you going?”
“We aren’t quite sure.” Tessa looked at her shoes, they seemed familiar.
“That’s going to be a difficult place to find then.” The purple hair girl chuckled. “What curious hair you have…” She looked at Sullivan.
“Me?” Sullivan said.
“Yes, I haven’t seen something like that… since… Sully?” she squinted. Sullivan’s hands went numb, and even more sweat dripped down his back. Tessa, however, was in the process of recalling a story from the Wiklow book. Towards the front of the book, there was a story about a girl with purple hair. She lived inside a hollowed out tree trunk, and would often host marvelous tea parties. She had the most exotic and delicious treats anyone had ever tasted with strange names; poppetys and snagree, lacigam. Always sickeningly sweet and beautifully colored. This purple haired girl was the first person they ever met in Wiklow. Her name was Bindy.
“Bindy?” Tessa ogled her purple hair.
“Tessa!” The girl jumped, dropping her bags, and throwing her hands around Tessa’s neck. “Oh it’s been so long! Years!” she shouted. Tessa breathed out, still in shock that she knew this woman’s name. “And you remembered me!” she stepped back and put her hands on her hips. “Where have you been? Where’s the rest of the group?” She went in for a hug with Sullivan. He stood lifelessly. “I just saw Cami a couple of months ago, and she didn’t say you would be coming!”
“You’ve seen Cami?” Tessa inquired.
“Oh, absolutely! We’ve stayed in touch over the years, unlike you!” she laughed.
“Where?” Tessa pried.
“Oh I saw her in the city… oh, probably two months ago,” she said, picking up her bags.
“Bindy?” Sullivan was slowly catching up. “Lived in a tree Bindy?”
“Have you seen Niko or Tuck?” Tessa ignored Sullivan. Bindy looked slowly away from Sullivan’s unending gaze.
“I haven’t… are they okay?” Bindy motioned to Sullivan.
“He’s fine. It’s been an odd day. The City? Could you point us in that direction?”
“That’ll take a few days to get there by your feet, but if you traveled by wind...” Bindy huffed. “But, you should come have something to drink at my place first.”
“That would be amazing.” Tessa stepped towards Bindy, ready to follow.
“Lovely!” She turned towards the forest, with Tessa at her heels. “Oh, it’s so good to see you two. Of course last time you were here it wasn’t like this…” Tessa turned to see Sullivan standing at the edge of the forest watching them walk away. “This drought has just been awful. No one knows where the water has gone.”
Tessa ran back, grabbing Sullivan’s hand and pulling him into the trees.
“All that’s left now is Alerden Ocean, but that’s miles from here. So, we try to make do with what we have.”
Sullivan stumbled along the dry undergrowth. “Obviously, all the mermaids have gone to Alerden, they couldn’t very well stay here,” she laughed. “Now that was an odd thing to see; mermaids out of water.” Tessa smiled, pretending she was following the conversation.
Bindy continued, “Last time you were here, the trees were in bloom, and we were swimming in that lake.” Tessa nodded. “Although with the drought, the pirate problem has gone down considerably.” Tessa yanked on Sullivan’s arm. “Here we are.” The three of them came to an opening in the forest. “I had to move out of the tree, it was getting a little tight.” Bindy bent over, took a deep breath, and blew into the dirt. A green vine emerged and wrapped itself around her fingers. It squeezed so tight that her hand turned white where its leaves lay. After a few moments it released its grip, and wound back into the ground. A loud crack came from under the ground and a great red wall-less door rose up from the dirt. “Come on in.” She turned the doorknob and welcomed them inside.
Chapter 4
“You’re an idiot.” Tuck mumbled at Niko.
“Me? I’m the idiot?” Niko replied.
“Yeah, you are.”
“Why is that? Because you pushed me off a cliff?” Niko asked.
“It was your idea to jump in the first place.”
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now. Here we are. Deal with it.”
“Shut up.” Tuck grumbled.
“You shut up.” Niko punched him in the shoulder.
“You shut up.” Tuck punched him back, smiling.
“Alright. Alright,” Niko laughed. “Truce.” The two were climbing through a thick underbrush made up of dry leaves and branches. Both wearing brown steel toe hiking boots. Niko’s pair slipped on and off his heels with each step; one size too large. They had found three pairs of hiking boots in the wood shed they arrived in. Each laced up a pair to their feet, and put the other pair in the backpack they found behind the leather couch. They added four water bottles, two baseball caps, and an expired bag of trail mix. Tuck carried it on his back, his hands gripped the straps as he huffed up another steep incline. His brown hair was dripping into his eyes with sweat. He ran his palm over his scruffy facial hair.
“I’ve never regretted my beard until now,” he said shaking the sweat from his hand.
“You want me to take the bag?” Niko offered.
“Yeah,” he answered, shimmying it down his arms, and tossing it over.
“Let’s take a break, huh?” Niko sat down with the bag under his arm.
“Alright.” Tucker plopped onto a fallen tree trunk. It creaked in protest to his weight. “Can I have some water?” Niko quickly tossed him a bottle from the bag, and took one for himself as well.
“So… how about them Yankees?” Niko asked.
“I don’t like baseball.” Tucker took a pull from the water bottle.
“Your arm says different,” Niko said pointing at the Yankees tattoo on his right shoulder. He then rifled through the bag and found the two ball caps.
“Yeah.” Tucker did not answer the question.
“What else is there to talk about?” Niko put the hat on his head to shield the sunlight.
“…many things. For example, where the hell are we? How is it we ended up in the bottom of a well?”
“Yeah, but… the Yankees won.” Niko laughed. Tucker shifted his weight, and again the log moaned. He looked up at the suns in the sky through the dead branches, and then up the steep incline. Through the tops of the trees, gigantic mountains could be seen.
“So, that where we are headed?” He pointed.
“I guess.” Niko swallowed. “I haven’t seen anywhere else to go.” He tossed the second hat to Tucker, who placed it on his head backwards.
“At least there, we can see a bit of where we are. Find someone or something.”
“Man, I haven’t seen anyone since we got here. It’s weird.”
“I know.” Tuck tossed the water back to Niko. In return, Niko tossed him the large bag
of trail mix. Tucker caught the bag, but the shift in weight caused the log to collapse underneath him. He fell inside the rotted wood, only his feet stuck out. Niko cackled. The inside of the log was covered in dried bugs and a layer of dust. Tucker coughed and flung his hand up for Niko to grab onto.
“Could you maybe help?” Tucker asked. Niko sighed happily and stood to assist.
Tucker coughed. He reached his hand behind his back to find leverage. Just then, he felt something that was not of nature. It was small and cold. “Wait… wait.” He said trying to get a grasp on it. His fist closed around it, “Okay, pull me up.”
Niko heaved him up to a standing position. Tucker opened his palm to reveal a gold chain; a necklace. At the end of the chain was a gem. The stone was a color that Tucker had never seen before. It was the color of a tropical island palm tree leaf after a storm. Green, but such a vibrant green that emerald looked like mud in comparison. The backdrop of a dead grey forest made it seem all the more pronounced.
“What is that?” Niko asked.
“I don’t know. It was in the log.” Tucker examined the necklace closely. The stone was laid in a golden leaf with incredible detail. The time it must have taken to create each vein of the leaf would have been agonizing.
“Hello there.”
A third male voice came from the trees. Three men sat on horseback, looking down on them from the hill. The man in the middle had blood colored hair, along with his eyebrows. The other two shared the same orange colored hair.
“We’ve been out on King’s orders for hours,” the blood colored hair man said.
Niko, at this point noticed that this was not a common horse; while its top half was a horse, it had great paws instead of hooves. They looked like lion claws, but much larger. The creature stomped its foot. “We are very thirsty; would you happen to know of a place where we might find some water?” He leaned down to rub the neck of his horse creature. The other two stayed stoic and unmoving.
Niko reached towards the bag, just slightly, before Tucker squeezed his arm to stop him. Niko quickly understood and straightened his back.
“No, we haven’t seen any,” Tucker answered sternly.
“Ah… a shame,” the man said looking at the two. Tucker nodded. “What are your names?” the man continued, “I know most everyone in Wiklow, and I have not seen your faces.”
“Wiklow?” Niko said under his breath. Tucker stood straight, calm and stoic. He did not answer.
“Your names?” the man repeated and again they did not answer.
“Your names!” the man demanded.
“Sherlock and Watson,” Niko shouted.
“Sherlock? And Watson?” the man echoed.
“Yes. We’ve just come from the Lake,” Niko answered.
“For what?” the man asked.
“What orders?” Tucker interrupted. The blood haired man, now irritated with Tucker’s antics, stepped down from the horse-creature and came to stand in front of him. Tucker noticed his cream colored uniform, along with very small cream colored shoes.
“We are the King’s servicemen and we are out on his orders.” The man peered under Tucker’s hat.
“What are those orders?” Tuck hissed.
“What is your name?” Niko leaned in, trying to keep everyone calm.
“I am Crawford,” the man answered. “And I think you know what we seek.”
He kept his eyes on Tucker. The orange haired men hopped off their horses, and stood behind Crawford, hands on swords.
“Could you remove your hat, Sherlock.” He smiled. Tucker huffed, and Niko took a step back.
“Remove your hat, Sherlock.” Crawford said loudly. Tucker tucked the green stone into the back pocket of his pants, nonchalantly.
“Last chance, sir, remove your hat.” Tucker, again, did not move or speak. Crawford raised his fist to Tucker’s face, and gently slapped the hat from his head.
“Oh, shit,” Niko said as he kicked the backpack behind a tree trunk. He had seen Tuck angry before, and he highly doubted Crawford could be prepared for the years of boxing experience Tuck had under his belt.
Tucker exhaled. Looked at the ground. Took a deep breath and swung his fist into Crawford’s jaw. He fell to the ground where he flipped over and shouted, “Humans!”
The orange haired men drew out their swords and held them to Tucker and Niko’s throats. Tucker elbowed the sword from his face, cutting deep into his arm.
“Tuck! Tuck! Stop!” Niko yelled. “It’s done.” Tucker relaxed, putting his hand over his wound. Crawford stood up, and wiped the dust from his sleeves.
“Put them in back,” he said. The two men walked Tucker and Niko with swords to their backs to an empty place behind the horses. “The King will want to see them.” One orange haired man bent down and blew into the air. A green vine slithered out of the ground and wrapped itself around the man’s hand. After a moment, it recoiled back into the ground. With a loud creak, a small white wooden door emerged, followed by a carriage.
“What the…” Niko gawked. The soldier man opened the door and shoved him in. The second soldier poked Tucker’s back with his sword. He took a step forward and leaned his head through the door.
The inside of the carriage had two red velvet chairs with white arm rests. Along the opposite wall was a white bar with a black cake on a silver plate. Niko made his way to one of the chairs, breathing heavily. Confused. He felt like he was inside Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage. The soldier put a hand on Tuck’s shoulder and pushed him into the carriage. Crawford appeared in the doorway smirking,
“How’s that chin?” Tuck rubbed his own jaw; mocking him.
“Don’t eat the cake.” Crawford slammed the door shut.
***
“Maybe he wants us to eat the cake,” Niko thought out loud, “Ya’ know? Like, he said that because he knew we’d do the opposite of what he said? Reverse psychology?”
“Maybe.” Tucker searched the carriage where the door used to be. It was gone, along with the windows.
“Or maybe he knew we’d figure that out, so we shouldn’t eat it.” Niko poked at the strange black cake, on a shelf near the chair.
“Maybe.” Tucker ran his hands along the red velvet walls, searching for an opening. Niko sniffed the cake, gazing at it closely.
“I’m going to eat it.”
“Don’t eat it.” Tucker turned to face Niko.
“But, I’m so hungry. I didn’t get any of that trail mix,” Niko groaned.
“Neither did I. But, don’t eat it.” Tucker sat, defeated, in the chair. Niko took his nose away from the cake, and sat back.
“Did you hear that guy? The King’s serviceman? Where are we? Sixteenth century England? Who has a King anymore.”
“Lots of places, actually: Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Thailand,” Tucker listed.
“Well, we aren’t in those places. We are in the magical land of Wiklow.” Niko waved his fingers. Tucker didn’t reply, but instead searched the velvet floor for rips.
“Hello? Am I the only one who heard that ginger out there say Wiklow?” Niko tried to gain Tucker’s attention. “Oh okay. We’ll just ignore that for now.” He crossed his arms. “Ya know what else is weird?”
“Everything,” Tuck answered.
“Yes. But, this ride is weird. It’s so smooth. I’ve never been in a horse-drawn carriage before, but I imagined it would be--” he slicked back his sweaty black hair. “I thought it would be bumpier.” Tucker noticed that the carriage led by strange horse-like creatures was eerily smooth. Even more so than a car ride.
“Either way… we need to get out of here before we get where they want us.” He changed the subject.
“How? No doors. No windows,” Niko asked.
“I don’t know.” Tucker looked up at the ceiling. A chandelier made of crystals hung in the small room; at its center, a green stone. The same as the necklace in his back pocket. He stood up abruptly, knocking his head on the ceiling.
“Nice,�
� Niko scoffed.
“Look, the stone.” He pulled the necklace from his pocket, comparing it to the chandelier. “It’s the same.” Without warning, Tucker yanked violently on the chandelier. A few crystals fell to the floor. Again, Tucker put all of his weight into ripping the chandelier from the ceiling.
“Whoa!” Niko shouted.
“Help me!” Tucker yelled at the sight of sunlight behind the chandeliers roots. Niko latched onto the arms of the light piece and pulled; lifting his feet off the ground. A loud snap signified the breaking of it. It fell to the ground and a rush of fresh air blew into the cabin. Their ears suddenly popped as if they were going up a mountain with an altitude change. The chandelier had created a two foot hole in the ceiling. Niko and Tuck looked at one another and placed their palms out.
“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot” they said together. Tucker’s hands lay flat together; paper. While, Nikos fist lay in his palm; rock. He threw up his hands in submission, and moved the chair directly underneath the hole. He took one last look at Tuck before putting his torso through the hole.
The wind hit Niko’s face like a train and his hat flew off. It was hard for him to keep his eyes open to see where they were. He clung to the gaping hole in the carriage to balance himself. When he finally opened his eyes, his mouth fell open.
“What is it?” Tucker asked. Niko shut his mouth and swallowed hard. He shouted something, but Tuck couldn’t hear it. “What?” he yelled louder. Niko tucked his head into the carriage and stared at Tuck.
“What? Where are we?”
“We… we’re…flying,” he stammered.
Chapter 5
“Well, this has been just… great.” Tessa sipped at the sickeningly sweet drink Bindy had given her. “But, we should be heading to the city…” She stood, followed by Sullivan.
Bindy’s home was small, but beautiful. Its wooden floors and stucco walls provided a glow when mixed with the sun through the pane-less windows. Bindy had decorated with hundreds of purple flowers; hanging from the ceiling, growing out of floorboards, stuck between books, and light fixtures. Her kitchen shelves were crowded with mismatched tea cups and pots; except for one cabinet, which was overflowing with the goodies from the stories of the Wiklow book.