Coraline woke to the sound of light rain dripping on the leaves above her. She sat up and stretched, in the process noticing that sleeping on the ground hadn't done her back much good. She noticed a bad taste in her throat, and decided to go find some water.
Though the sky was grey with clouds, the daylight made it much easier to find her way, and after only a few minutes of walking Coraline was able to locate a small pool. The water looked clean and clear, or at least enough so that she was ok with drinking it. Cupping her hands, she scooped up some of the cool water.
She tried not to drink too much, as she didn't want to get sick. After she finished drinking, Coraline looked across the pond to see a large frog staring at her.
"What do you want?" She asked it rhetorically, raising an eyebrow in an exaggerated imitation of genuine interest.
It replied with a low pitched croak, before hopping into the pool with a splatter of pond water.
Suddenly the rain grew heavier, the light pattering turning almost instantly into a heavy drumming, and the droplets breaking the barrier created by the leaves. Coraline sprinted back to where Wybie was.
He was awake, sitting and looking at the remainders of last nights fire.
"Fires out" he remarked pointlessly, since it was quite clear.
"Looks like it." she replied. "So...it's starting to rain pretty hard…"
"Yeah, umm, I actually think I saw a road over here."
He got up and walked over to what, at first glance appeared to be a ditch, but revealed itself to be a small path upon closer inspection. They climbed down the small embankment surrounding the trail, battling some thorny brambles in the process.
The two walked silently through the rain for some time, until they came upon what looked to be a house. However, upon further inspection, the structure was proven to be a tavern by a rustic wooden sign that hung above the door.
Coraline pushed the door open, which took a surprising amount of effort. She and Wybie entered to see a wooly sheep dog sitting by the door. Wybie smiled and gave the dog a friendly pat. Coraline found a table and sat down at it, and Wybie joined her after introducing himself to the dog. It was warm and homey in the tavern, made so by a roaring fire and well-placed lanterns.
Coraline scanned the room, looking for someone who looked safe to ask for directions. However, she was disappointed to find that everyone seemed to possess a somewhat creepy and archaic appearance, that was somewhat reminiscent of a folktale or fairy tale.
"Well, hey there cuties, whatcha doin 'round here?" A woman with a high pitched sing-song voice asked them.
"Oh...uhh" Wybie stammered.
"We're a little lost and we're trying to find our way home, do you think you could tell us where we are?" Coraline said.
She chuckled. "Well thats easy. Yer at the tavern"
"Yeah, but where is the 'tavern'" Coraline narrowed her eyes, feeling as though the tavern keeper was intentionally being vague.
"Who're you guys anyway?" The woman asked, mirroring Coraline's suspicious expression.
"Who are we?" She paused "I'm Coraline, and this is Wybie."
"No,no,no. Who *are* you."
Coraline raised and eyebrow.
"Y'see, I'm the tavern keeper. That's the baker, butcher, tailor…" She went on to list many of the folks in the room. "So, who're you?"
"Oh, I'm not really sure. I don't have a job if that's what you mean."
The woman sighed, "Well, where'd you come from?".
"We're from Ashland" The woman only looked confused. "...Oregon?" Coraline added hopefully.
"...You're not from the Unknown" She said, with an expression of curiosity and slight disbelief.
"What?"
The tavern keeper sighed, "Well, in that case, you're a lost more lost than you think. What do remember happening since you got here?"
Coraline recounted their experiences. Telling them about their Halloween plans, their journey through the woods, but somehow being unable recall falling down the old well and simply going through the story as though it had never happened. When she mentioned their encounter with the person carrying the lantern nearly the whole tavern fell silent, save for a few gasps and murmurs.
"...The beast!" whispered the tavern keeper sharpley.
"...The beast?"
"Yes, he who bears the lantern must be the beast."
"Ok...so what does the beast want?"
A man sitting at the bar with a wooden tankard in his hand piped up.
"The beast wanders these forests...searching for lost souls such as yourselves...to feed…" The man, clearly drunk, trailed of.
Coraline looked to the tavern keeper for clarification, but she only nodded, apparently having understood the man's garbled explanation. Coraline thought for a moment. The "Beast" they had seen had only appeared to be a teenager of about fifteen or sixteen, surely such a foe couldn't pose much of threat.
"Well." Coraline said loudly, looking around the room to see that she had caught everyone's attention.
"Well, I saw the beast and he was hardly the terrifying creature you all seem to think he is. I think that you're making a big deal out of nothing. And to prove it to you, I'll kill the beast!" She brought her fist down on the table for effect. The room fell silent for a moment. Than the tavern keeper chuckled.
"Kill the beast?! Well, in that case I know what you are." She smiled warmly, though with a hint condescendence. "You're the hunter." The others who'd been listening in on the conversation nodded and smiled in agreement.
Coraline and Wybie ate their fill and even tried some ale, which was offered to them freely. After they finished their meal a man who was carrying a load of straw in his cart offered to give them a ride. They hopped on the back of the cart. It had stopped raining, and they found it quite enjoyable to ride atop a soft, though somewhat prickly, pile of straw.
"Coraline?" Wybie said. "We can't really kill the beast."
"Well, why not?" she responded.
"I mean...he's a person."
Coraline ignored him.
"And also, isn't all of this a little strange. We haven't seen any cars since we got here, this guy's got horse pulled cart" He whispered the last part, worried that the man might hear him.
"Well...maybe he's Amish…"
The cart moved along beside a canal, Coraline watched the murky river, occasionally noticing a duck bobbing in it's waters. They moved on for hours, until the sun was low on the horizon and sky grew discolored, unsure where they wanted to go.
The cart slowed down as they went through a covered bridge. It was completely dark, save for some light coming through the cracks in the structure's roof. Suddenly the cart stopped.
"H-hey who are you?! What do you want?" They heard the man ask, a tremor in his voice.
"Hide" Coraline hissed. She and Wybie climbed into the pile of straw.
"Give me all your valuables!" A gruff voice said loudly.
"I-i'm just a farmer...I don't have anything."
They lied on the wooden floor of the cart, under several feet of straw, holding their breath.
"Liar! No poor man dresses in such a way."
Coraline's lungs ached.
"I..I was going into town today. Please, these are the best clothes I ow…"
The man trailed off into a sickening gurgle that was accompanied by the sound of splashing.
Wybie gasped.
The man apparently didn't hear, as he was too busy rummaging through the cart-owner's pockets.
"Ha!" they heard him say, apparently having found something of value, before leaving with his spoils.
Coraline and Wybie waited for a long time, maybe even an hour, to make sure the highwayman wasn't planning to return. Then they cautiously crawled out of the straw.
The air smelled metallic and strange. The covered bridge seemed to be a world of it's own, cut off from the sweet night air and shining half-moon that lurked outside of it's dark and messy borders. Wybie stepped in something and it splashed. It was warm he noticed.
"Oh my god…" He said quietly, trying to wipe whatever it was off the front of his coat.
Coraline, in a bit of a daze, lit a match, revealing in a strange yellow light the body of the cart's driver, sitting in an unnatural pose with it's head tilted far further back than was natural, and blood bubbling out of the open wound.
