Towers [BOOK ONE]

Chapter Five

We stopped at the first village we passed. Channing's somehow sounded pretty enough, but it wouldn't get us to the Deep South and back by next year's end. We had far less time than that. No choice was left to us but to ask for help.

The inn we came to was a small two-story house with a straw-thatched roof and windows with blue curtains. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. A sign over the door read, in clear letters burned into the wood, Bonnie Blue Jay. A good omen.

I led my friends through the door and into a large room with a blazing fireplace. We stamped the snow from our fur boots, welcoming the warmth of the indoors.

"Well, well, well!" said the innkeeper in a merry voice, stepping around the counter and striding over to us. "What do we have here?"

He was a friendly, middle-aged man with thinning hair and a bushy mustache. His blue eyes were round, innocent, and honest--the eyes of a child. I smiled back at him. "Just three travelers, sir," I replied.

"I see," he observed, nodding his head sagely. "Looking for a room, perhaps? The Bonnie Blue Jay has the best accommodations anywhere in the High North."

I shook my head. "Actually, we're in need of directions," I explained.

"Directions!" the innkeeper exclaimed, as if it were the most delightful thing he'd heard all day. "Where are you headed, little explorers?"

"Deep South," said Channing for me, his husky voice making him sound older than he was. He fixed his calm, unwavering gaze on the innkeeper. "Queen Rapunzel's castle."

"Oh." The innkeeper wasn't smiling now. "The castle. Yes." He tugged on his mustache. "That's beyond the Sea of Sorrows and the Middling Mountains, you know. No way around them."

"Yes," said Channing. "We know."

"And the Forest of Echoes. Folks who enter those woods--they don't ever come out again."

"We know," said Emmy.

"Well then. It's directly south. Just keep going, you'll get there eventually. Once you're past all of the mountains and forests and waters that clog up the heart of the kingdom, find the nearest city and they'll direct you there, straightaway."

"Thank you," I said quietly. We left without another word.

Beyond the village, the land became riddled with towers. I shuddered as we passed under their still, silent shadows. It was like walking through a graveyard. Out of respect, we all tread softer to avoid disturbing the souls' rest.

But there was no end in sight to the desolate expanse of stone spires rising from the ground. We were forced to make camp at the foot of one; it was a bit shorter than the rest, and the glassless window at the top was dark and empty, showing no sign of life or movement. Then again, they all looked abandoned.

Channing made a small campfire while Emmy and I curled up inside the sled. The night was as cold as a snow troll's stare, but the fire's warmth kept us from freezing.

"Get some sleep," said Channing in a low voice. "If you can."

~~~

I was awakened the next morning by a knock on the head.

"Ouch!" I shouted, squeezing my eyes shut and sitting up as I rubbed the sore spot. "Who...?" I forced my eyes open and looked around. "Oh!"

Our little camp was littered with small, round pebbles.

As I sat there, confused and surprised as I tried to decipher the meaning of this odd circumstance, another pebble dropped out of the sky and bounced off of my head.