The Nine Walkers?
Yea, Right,
Try Six
When the snow had finally sunk into my sneakers I knew we have made a stupid decision. Not many sane people would dare to try and take a hike through snowy, ice laden woods and still try to live through it to tell the tale. In fact, I doubt many people would even start.
You see, we didn't exactly know what our 'adventure' would entail when Alexis, Janki, Krista, Vanessa and I set off down my old driveway on a cloudy late afternoon when we had just been ice-skating for my latest birthday. The driveway was packed with snow and ice. We would eventually cross through sub-zero brooks, a path of bamboo, go slipping and sliding down several hills, cross logs over frozen streams, get frozen, falling in a brook, get lost and separated and then eventually find out way back together in the span of just a few hours.
How did six girls manage to get themselves in so much trouble in just a few hours? Well that, my fine fellow friend, is what I am here to tell you about.
February 2004: 4:00pm
"Come on you guys! Wait up!" Vanessa called behind me as she struggled to get through the ice patch we had both just crashed through. Krista waited, being the kind, considerate girl that she was, and the fact that she seemed to find nothing better to do but help people. I would have left her in the ice patch. Once we caught up with Krista, Janki and Alexis had already moved out to the road and off our dirt driveway.
"Man…this is like, so boring." I heard Alexis mutter,
"Then thing of something to do." Said Janki in reply, ah the decisiveness in that statement.
"Is that a threat?" I muttered, Vanessa laughed at the weak joke and we moved ahead down the road.
"That hurt!" Janki yelled a rounds later of 'who can push Janki into the ice first?' game.
"How much longer?" Vanessa asked wearily, I knew Vanessa didn't do much in the way of active out-doorsey stuff, but somehow I figure she would some kind of exercise from walking around malls all day and picking out Abercrombie sweaters and Old Navy jeans. Guess I was wrong.
"Just a little bit longer." I called back, rubbing my fingerless gloves hands together to keep them from freezing. Note to self: Wear really gloves next time.
Sure enough the extremely white picket fence peered at us with utmost intensity as we rounded the corner and met the forge that formed the corner of the road. Krista, Alexis and I had been down here dozens of times, and somehow, two out of those times we'd climbed down into the gulley and back up.
"Do you guys want to go down to Bamboo Peak or Sand Bar River?" I asked Alexis and I had created the names a few years ago when we had found the places. It was our place, and I hardly went there much with people because I wanted to keep it a secret.
"Bamboo Peak sounds good." Vanessa said airily, twirling her scarf in some sort of make shift pattern. Alexis took the lead to show them up a little way while I kept back to keep with Janki to make sure she didn't freeze over. Janki had a tendency to do that.
Bamboo Peak is exactly how you would imagine it. Just a little ways off the road it was completely hidden from view unless you were looking for it. Acres of bamboo stretched as far as you could see on both sides of the road and up the hills. Through the middle of it ran a two foot wide river that started from a drainage pipe and formed a waterfall a little ways down.
When Alexis gave the all clear sign, a shrill whistle three times, we all started the climb down into the gulley where the bamboo awaited our arrival.
"Everybody good?" I asked, a chorus of 'yes' resonated through the group and me trudged on-but not before Alexis got her two cents in about starting a fantasy game.
"Why don't we play make-believe?" Alexis asked cheerfully, dodging a snowball I'd thrown in her direction. I had already suspected for quite some time now that she'd find a moment to bring it up.
"I think its fine." Janki said, putting in her two cents. I sighed; I wasn't going to win if Janki and Alexis had already said something about it and agreed.
"Sure." I muttered
"Let's-Let's-" Alexis paused and tapped her foot on a nearby rock. "Let's do a Survivor type thing!" I nearly rolled my eyes and through myself into the brook right then and there; not only had I lost my inner child a while ago, but I was not a reality TV show person.
"Sarah, Janki, Krista, you can make up the team names and whatever. Vanessa do you want to play?" Alexis asked, Vanessa shook her head. 'Why'd you give her the choice and not me! Why?' I silently asked, I wanted to do what she did, shake my head and say 'no', but no, I went along with it. So we had ended up with two teams and a Vanessa.
February 2004: 5:00pm
Somehow, and I don't remember exactly how, Vanessa got stuck on a log. I suppose it was her own fault. I mean, come on, while the rest of us went under the log and hopped the stream, she went across the log. First sign of trouble.
So we tugged, and we tried, and she lost her shoes. After a half-hour of tugging and pushing, I was mentally screaming at her by this time. It was getting late, and the sun would go down soon.
"COME ON VANESSA!" I shouted before we eventually got her across the log and safely retrieved her wet shoes.
After that we crossed another gravel road and onto another plain, across a few more logs (safely and with no incidents) and then eventually stopped on the other side.
Vanessa and Janki wee tired and decided to head back while Krista, Alexis and I headed forward somewhat. After a few minutes though we decided to head back and went up a hill. Well, little did we know that Alexis's hill turned a different direction, and we eventually made it to the top. However, Alexis, Janki and Vanessa were nowhere in sight.
Krista and I searched for awhile, yelling and screaming and that type of thing, before our voices gave out.
"This is hopeless." I muttered sitting down on a nearby rock, Krista joined me.
"You think they're okay?"
I scoffed, "Well, duh. Even if they did get lost I can Janki and Vanessa arguing like a bunch of babies."
Krista laughed, "I told you we should've gone right!" She mimicked Vanessa,
"No I was saying right! You were saying right!" I joined in. We soon had a very fun time trying to think of all the possible things the two of them could be arguing about.
"I know that laughter!" I heard Janki's voice come. I paused and turned to Krista, did she hear what I heard? We looked at each other and then at the direction where we were hearing more approaching hoof beats. A sudden horn call filled our ears and then before we knew what had even happened we were surrounded by really long pikes and a lot of horses. A rider came forth and I noticed in the deepening darkness, Janki, who was bound at the wrists behind him.
"What business does two women have in the Mark?" We looked at each other again before he continued. "Speak quickly."
"Wegotlostandfoundourselveshere!" Krista explained, taking a deep breath after saying it. The man with the horse seemed to growl.
"I did not mean it that way." He said, irritation creeping through his voice.
"But you did. I mean, dude, you said to speak quickly." I said crossing my arms over my chest in defiance and ignoring the looks Janki was giving me.
"Father! What is going on, why did we stop?" A man's voice asked, we both jerked our heads up and there stood another boy who looked almost exactly like the one who stood before me. Long dirty blonde hair, brown eyes and a short beard.
"Great. I'm seeing two." I muttered, I screamed when a hand was laid on my shoulder and out of instinct I grabbed the wrist and used my weight to throw him over me and onto the ground. Little did I know who exactly I'd thrown.
"Well, that was unexpected." This coming from Krista. I laughed and released the guy, noticing the riders had suddenly backed off.
"Krista, we aren't fourteen anymore." I said in all seriousness, when we had been in our world, or whatever world, we had been fourteen our bodies obviously still maturing. Now, as we looked at each other, we noticed we were no longer gangly fourteen year olds, but tall and full eighteen year old teenagers. Krista broke into a grin and I nodded, then she fainted.
"Crap." I muttered bending down and slinging one arm over my shoulder and hoisting her to her feet. The rider, who was now looking at as oddly, sighed.
"Can you ride?" He asked me, I nodded.
"I've been riding all my life." I answered; he seemed pleased with the answer and called for someone. Trotting through the crowd came a black horse that stopped at the sight of us.
"This is Hasufel. He will be you riding compainion to Edoras." He said,
"Who said Krista and I were coming with you anywhere?" I asked, He strode up to me and grabbed my shoulders roughly.
"I did, and if you don't. I shall personally see to it that you and your friends do not make it past the borders of the Mark." He said I gulped.
"Point taken," He seemed to take this as a satisfactory answer before mounting on his horse. I groaned and cursed for a few more minutes before I managed to get Krista into the saddle, which is no easy task. Then I mounted behind her, patting the horse's neck to assure him of the extra weight, taking hold of the reins. Then we were off.
I must have fallen asleep more then a dozen times before I heard Janki whisper my name.
"ViVi!" I heard, I moaned quietly and looked over at her through half-closed eyes.
"You alright?" She asked,
"As much as I could be." Another wave of sleep tried to claim me and I jerked upright. "We need to sing something or I'm going to fall flat on my face."
Janki laughed, "Do you think Nickelback will work for you?" She asked, I nodded vigorously, "What song?"
"Do you know 'If Everyone Cared'?" I asked, this time she nodded,
"I'll start." I said, and struggled to remember the exact words before beginning.
"From underneath the trees, we watch the sky.
Confusing stars for satellites
I never dreamed that you'd be mine
But here we are, we're here tonight…" Then Janki caught on.
When we stopped we noticed the caravan of traveling horses and gotten oddly quiet. I looked at Janki and shrugged.
"You weren't half bad." She said mockingly, I laughed and played mock hurt.
"Half bad? I dear say my good friend that I say you were less then that!" Now it was her turn to pout. I groaned. "Not the lip…" I paused and opened an eye, "Not the EYES!" Sure enough, she'd turned against me and not only had put on the pouting lip, but the puppy dog eyes.
"You've turned against me!" I shouted I saw the rider in front of Janki take a look at us and shake his head. I took a look around us and smirked.
"Janki?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know where we are?"
She looked confused for a moment before shaking her head. "No."
I smirked even more. "Take a guess. What's my favorite place in the world and whose books you couldn't understand?"
Her eyes widened. "Your kidding me…this can't be…."
"Middle-Earth." I said, using my low, mysterious voice.