The Imagination Machine

Chapter 18

They continued to travel that day until the sun was high in the sky, almost directly above them. Lucretia asked for a rest break and they stopped the longlegs. When Courtney hopped off her longleg, it lay down in the grass beside her.

"These longlegs are really well trained," Courtney said approvingly. "Back home we have animals like these and we usually have to tie them up when we stop."

Lucretia nodded at her as he stopped the carriage, he went around to the back door and lifted out Sable. Rudy ran around the side of the carriage and threw the bag at her feet. "Hey uh, we're running out of water."

"What?" Courtney knelt and threw open the bag, opening the large water canteen. She'd taken measured sips throughout the last couple of days, and she'd made sure Lucretia had too, but the canteen was halfway empty. 

She looked accusingly at her brother, whose lips were shiny and wet. "Rudy, how much of this did you drink? Did you give any to Sable?" She remembered the incident in the forest when her brother had almost eaten all of their food. Courtney wondered why she'd trusted him with the water. 

Rudy, looking sheepish, wiped his mouth. "Kind of a lot, I guess. But I gave some to Sable too! When she asked for it."

"Not just when she asks for it. Sometimes your body needs water even though you don't feel thirsty. And you should be giving more to her."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because she's sick." Courtney took a sip of water and handed it to Lucretia as he walked over to them, Sable in his arms. He set Sable on the ground next to her and took the canteen.

"Your hair is really pretty." Sable reached forward to stroke Courtney's curls gently. 

Courtney smiled. "Thanks." There was something about getting a compliment from a little kid that left her with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. It wasn't a feeling she was really familiar with. 

Rudy grabbed one of her curls and gently yanked at it. "Your hair went poof," he said. "It looks like a monster threw up on your head."

Courtney playfully smacked the back of his head. "Shut up, fool," she said. "Yours looks like someone ran a steamroller through it."

Their hair had indeed grown a lot during their stay in the village. Rudy's, which had been above his ears, now curled at the top of his neck and it stuck up in random places. Courtney hadn't looked into a mirror in a while. She was pretty sure hers was all over the place, but couldn't bring herself to care. There were more important things to worry about.

 Rudy ran both hands over his hair and rubbed it fiercely. When he released it, it stuck up even more than before. Sable giggled. 

Lucretia sat down next to them, tossing them each part of a fruit that he'd pulled apart and giving them a vegetable called a Gulkten. Gulktens were groups of little pods that could be pulled apart. Courtney grabbed one and popped it into her mouth. It crunched pleasantly in her teeth, tasting kind of sweet.

"We've definitely passed the castle by now," she said after swallowing. "We can probably cross over to the other side of the valley."

"Yeah, I guess." Lucretia looked uneasy. Courtney frowned.

"Something the matter?"

"No, nothing I guess."

Courtney knew he was probably lying, most likely worried again about going over the mountains. She wasn't sure how to comfort him anymore. Maybe there really was something dangerous over on the other side of the island. She wondered again what had happened to the other villagers that had chosen to go over.