Chapter 6: A Broken Message

Chapter 6

                I carefully look around the hedges.  The impact wasn’t bad at all, in fact, it didn’t hurt.  The bushes aren’t what I thought they’d be: prickly, sharp, pointy.  But no, they’re soft.  In fact, I wouldn’t mind sleeping in them if I didn’t have a camp already.  So I tap three times on the M charm and pull out the map, after closing the pogo stick and securing it on my bracelet.  I pull out the map and zoom in.

                The purple arrow points to the west end of the hedges.  I see the red X all the way on the east end.

                “Hey, Emedee.  I’m glad you made it all the way to the Hedges safely.  You had quite a close call,” Colby says.  His face appears on the map.  Geez, doesn’t he have anything better to do then watch me 24/7? 

                “Okay, Colby,” I say, “where to?”

                “Well, I’m talking to you live by the way.  The Queen hasn’t arrived yet.  But she’ll be here later today, around six o’clock.”  Colby glanced behind himself and Awesome appeared.

                “Hey, Emedee.  Good to see ya,” Awesome says. I smile.

                “Okay, we better get going if we want to get her to her camp by night.  The hedges aren’t exactly small,” Colby says.  Awesome nods.

                “Something wrong?” I ask Awesome.  She shrugs.

                “Other than we’re about to get killed by her and you’re relaxing on a bunch of bushes, I’m fine,” she says.

                “Awesome, Emedee was almost killed a few minutes ago.  Besides, there’s a snarler on the loose, plus other monsters,” Colby says.

                “Okay, two things,” I say.  “First of all, it wasn’t a close call.  You just installed the wrong video onto the pogo stick!  I had no idea how to control it!” Colby smiles weakly and rubs his hair.  Awesome glances at him.  He shrugs.

                “Second of all, what the heck is a snarler?  Everyone knows but me!” I say.

                “Emedee, calm down.  Please,” Colby says.  “A snarler is a wolf, but bigger and more dangerous.  The snarler is why they closed the hedges in the first place.  It disables its prey by-“

                “By biting off its leg.  I heard that before,” I say. 

                “Yeah,” Colby says.

                “Okay, let’s get going,” Awesome says.  Colby nods.

                “Wait,” I say.  “Did I leave my Sugar Slinger at your place, Colby?”  Colby smiles.

                “You’d think I’d leave Awesome with a giant lollipop?” Colby asks.

                “Hey!” Awesome says.

                “Uh so..?” I begin.

                “Just look in your pack, okay?” Colby instructs.  I take off my bag and set the map down.  I unzip it, and there it is.  The giant purple lollipop.  I hug it, and Colby laughs.

                “Carry that as we tell you how to get there.  Let’s begin.”  I put my bag back on and hold the weapon in one hand, map in the other.

                “First, keep walking straight,” Colby says.  “Now, take a left.”  I end up at a dead end.

                “You need to jump across.  It’s not hard, trust me.  Just get a running start,” Awesome says.  I take a deep breath, and back up.  Then, I run up to the edge of the hedge.  My feet fly into the air, and I know I’ve jumped short.  I release the Candy Slinger and the map so they end up on the other hedge.  I reach out with my hands and grab the shrub.

                “You can do it, Emedee!  Pull yourself up!  You’ll get the hand of it,” Colby and Awesome say.  I breathe in and out, and then pull myself up so that I end up with my chest on the hedge, my feet over the edge.  Colby and Awesome laugh.  I don’t know how the kid does it!  How can he see my every move when they’re no cameras here?

                “Okay, very funny,” I say.  “Where to next?” I put my lollipop in my belt so I can have a free hand and access it easily.

                “Dude.  When you get to cloud, you should so eat it!” Awesome says.  I roll my eyes.

                “You’re welcome to it, Awesome, if you love metal painted purple with a side of old, moldy blood,” I say.  Awesome shudders.

                “You do clean it, right?” she asks.  I laugh, and she frowns.

                “Because the day we met…”  Awesome runs out of the room.  She comes back looking sick with a bucker in her hands.  Colby looks at her, and then back at me and shrugs.

                “Excuse me…” Awesome runs out again.

                “Uh, let’s get on with this,” Colby says.

                “Please,” I reply.  Colby leads me through one more jump, and then another, testing me until I can jump across from one hedge to another with ease.  One hedge by one, we go on until the afternoon.

                “Aww great.  One o’clock.  I have to go, Emedee,” Colby says.

                “Why?” I ask.  Okay, it’s a dumb question.

                “We have to get far away from the lab.  The Queen’s guards will be coming for your house.  I can’t guarantee we’ll ever get to talk like this again.”  I sigh.  I know Colby’s right.

                “Emedee?” It’s Awesome.

                “Yeah?” I reply.

                “Colby added on two more arrows onto your map.  A red for me, orange for Colby.  That way you can see where we are and stuff,” Awesome says.

                “I’ll miss you guys,” I say.

                “And Emedee,” Awesome says, “we’re going to catch up with you.”  Colby looks at Awesome with a sigh.  Awesome looks at him, then at me.

                “I really mean it.  We’re going to find you,” she says.  “When you know the time is right, leave.”  Awesome pulls out a gold chain from under her shirt.  It’s a matching purple mountain charm, just like the one she gave me.  This makes me cry.

                “Bye, Emedee.  We’ll try to contact you when we can.  Good luck.”  Colby leads Awesome out of the room, and the map goes black.  It re-opens back to the map.  I see the red and orange arrows beside each other.  They’re heading out of Colby’s lab.  I zoom out and zoom in on the Hedges.  If I want dinner, I better get to the camp before sunset.  No flashlight can bring light to Briarwood.

                I slowly make my way across the hedges, jumping here and there.  And then, after another jump, a piece of paper falls from the map.

                Dear Emedee,

                                You have just reached your new home.  This isn’t your camp, but your part of the Hedges.  This area is the original Snarling Hedges, where the snarler was first sighted.  Trust me, as long as you have the gifts we gave you and your Sugar Slinger, it’s perfectly safe.  There’s a gate in front of you that marks the entrance.  Once you’re past there, you don’t have to worry about staying on top of the Hedges.  You can run around in the maze, because I know a few spots where you can get back up without your pogo.  You’re welcome to explore the other sections of the Hedges, but I want you to stay on this side until you know your way around.  There are fires on top of areas where you can cook your food, and you’ll follow your map to your camp in a second.  Also, this part is against one of the Briarwood mountain walls, meaning the mountains behind you are your exit points.  Enjoy, and good luck.

                Sincerely,

                Awesome and Colby.

P.S.- Emedee, I added this on last minute.  I didn’t want to type it out incase Colby saw, but I looked on one of his maps when he wasn’t looking and I think-

                I look on the back of the paper, but I can’t find the rest of the message.  Oh, well.  It can’t be too bad, whatever it is.  When I look up again, the sun is beginning to set.  I forget the message and start to follow the map.  Whatever she wanted, it can wait until later.