What felt like another week or possibly two. Anne and the Plantars were glad that Charlie was okay but they did wonder who this woman was that attacked him since they only know from what Charlie told them was "Some crazy lady whose nothing but a liar with the ego the size of all of Amphibia" they were glad that Yunan didn't rape \or touch him in an appropriate place of his body.
Anne and Hop Pop felt like they wanted to knock out Yunan for what she said and did to him or what she attempted to do to him. But Charlie told them that he already beat them to it. Charlie knew that when he told them what happened, he had to make sure he didn't make the details too graphic because some of it was too brutal or inappropriate for conversations topic for Sprig and Polly but he told Anne and Hop Pop the details that he knew they were old enough to know about which they still were glad that Charlie was alright but they felt like if this woman, Yunan, ever tried to hurt him or anyone else they care about. They'd show no mercy.
Charlie didn't tell them he left her some food and water along with a golden apple to heal Yunan of any possible pain, wound or illness because he figured that they wouldn't agree to that or he figured it didn't matter much, even though he didn't feel good keeping that part of the events from them. He figured he could tell them when the time is right or if they were to encounter Yunan and he convinces Yunan to leave them alone.
"So that's how you knocked that crazy newt lady out?" asked Polly looking intrigued.
"I knew she'd be fine if she landed on her butt." joked Charlie.
Polly, Anne and Sprig laughed as they figured that was a fitting joke to make out of an enemy that tried to hurt one of them.
It was nightfall and both Anne and Hop Pop were steering Bessie on a trail that was located on a mountain. Both of them had been doing so for less than a day and were severely tired. Anne nearly fell off the seat but Hop Pop used his really long, thick and wide frog like tongue to catch her and placed her back on the seat. Their eyelids were showing a slightly darker color while their eyes shown the red veins that apparently were from lack of sleep from a whole twenty hour drive.
Charlie was asleep in the bed while Sprig and Polly were looking at the map that they had on them. They were looking at the trail they were located on which shown they were not far from Wartwood.
While Charlie slept. He had a dream and the dream was of him and Anne. He was dreaming that they were talking to Anne's mother who was not looking very happy.
"No, no, no. Absolutely not. My daughter can't just slack around." said Mrs. Boonchuy.
"But mom, I'm constantly being told to study more, which I do my best. But there's so many times when I'm just doing something I find fun and you tell me ether not to do that, my stomach can't handle that, I'm too young for this, that leads to trouble, that sort of music is so obnoxious. I know you want me to have a good life and a bright future but my future is years away. I know you want me to be more responsible with school but this isn't fair. I want to at least have some fun in life." argued Anne.
"There were times when I let you have some fun. If not too much. But you shouldn't be going wild at school or at least not go too wild in your life for that matter. But I'm saying no, I'm putting my foot down." said Mrs. Boonchuy crossing her arms.
"But mom." Anne started.
"Khuṇ dị̂yin mæ̀ k̄hxng khuṇ!" Mrs. Boonchuy said sharply.
Anne looked disappointed and hung her head and that's when Charlie stepped in as he took hold of Anne's hand.
"Mrs. Boonchuy, I know you want what's best for your daughter, you want her to be more responsible with school, and that you think some things she's not ready to do. But her youth can't be all discipline and responsibility. She's got to at least have some fun in her life, sure, she has a free spirited personality with a wild child side, but weren't you like that as a kid or teenager growing up. Maybe even a little bit?" asked Charlie.
Mrs. Boonchuy was wide eyed, looking as though Charlie guessed a little truth about her.
"Well, there was a time when I was a little bit like that. There was a time when I was Anne's age and I was listening to loud hip hop music that the volume broke some of the neighbors windows and possibly a few mirrors while some of them were styling their hair." chuckled Mrs. Boonchuy but went back to trying to appear strict. "But my parents told me I shouldn't be listening to such noise. And I grew up having to be more of an adult."
"But don't you wish that you got to have a childhood that allowed you more freedom and not have it filled with responsibility and discipline all the time? I know I'm not Anne's mom or dad, and what goes on in your personal life or what went on in your past is none of my business. I get it. But you shouldn't deprive Anne of having any freedom in her life. Do you think maybe the reason why you and Anne don't always see eye to eye is because maybe she's acting out and rebelling because you won't let her have some freedom in life and she decided to breakout that wild child side of her because she's tired of being denied any freedom if not a little?" said Charlie making a few good points to raise. "I'm not saying you should allow Anne to do something like bungee jumping or go jump off a bridge. I'm saying that maybe you could allow Anne to have more freedom in her life, she might make mistakes along the way, but you can't avoid making a mistake your whole life, it's not possible for people. If she makes a few mistakes, or if she's in a little trouble, she needs to know that you won't get so harsh on her. She's only a kid. A parent may get mad they made a mistake or did something wrong, but all strictness is going to do is to one day cause a rift between mother and daughter. She's going to grow up one day and if she cuts you off in her life. You don't want that. You love Anne, don't you?"
Mrs. Boonchuy was showing that her strict and strong willed authority was weakening as she hated to admit it but Charlie was right and made some good points in his argument.
"Of course I love Anne." said Mrs. Boonchuy showing some remorse for her strict behavior.
"I know you do. But you need to at least let Anne have some freedom in life. I'm not saying she should join a biker gang. I'm saying that you should at least let her have more freedom in life, try to find some common ground with each other instead of arguing all the time. Maybe if Anne is wanting to do something, you two could talk about it and see if it's a good idea? If you two work something out or if you two end up agreeing to let her do what ever it is or if you two agree it's not a good idea, than you'll at least have fewer headaches. Sometimes the best thing to do with teenagers is to listen, than talk it out, and if you have to, hug it out." Charlie continued.
It appeared that Charlie's words were having Mrs. Boonchuy show signs of relenting.
"I don't want me and my daughter to one day end up not talking to each other for any reason. That would break my heart." Mrs. Boonchuy admitted.
"I don't want that either, mom." said Anne.
"Maybe I could let Anne have a bit more freedom in her life. But I don't want Anne doing anything dangerous like base jumping." Mrs. Boonchuy advised while relenting. "Young man, how is it you managed to do what you just did? Did you learn this from your own mother?"
"At home, I was taught this and more by my mom, my aunt, and six of their closest friends." Charlie revealed.
Mrs. Boonchuy's mouth fell open in shock at what she was told.
"You mean to tell me you're being raised in a house full of eight women and your the only boy in the house?" Mrs. Boonchuy wide eyed.
"Hard to believe but yes. I wasn't used to that at first but they've grown on me." said Charlie blushing.
Mrs. Boonchuy was surprised that she met a boy that was being raised in a house full of women. She expected that he was being raised by his mother alone but both his mother, his aunt and six of their best friends? That threw her for a loop.
"Also, I'm kind of dating your daughter. But I also wanted to at least meet Anne's mother so I can at least possibly get her blessing to let me still date her. We wanted to discuss this for a while but at first, we were too busy focusing on each other in terms of relationship. She got curious to meeting my family and when she did, they immediately love her like family. And I figured it would only be fair and sensible if I met Anne's family and possibly tried to convince you to let Anne have more freedom in her life. I know you want what's best for Anne but depriving her of any freedom isn't the way to go. I know that if you try listening to her more, she'll listen to you more but only if you two at least try to." Charlie explained as he was hoping to continue dating Anne.
"And how long have you and Anne been dating?" asked Boonchuy.
"A little over a month." the two kids said in unison.
This not only surprised Mrs. Boonchuy but she was actually accepting of this. A smile formed on her face.
"I usually don't always feel alright about Anne dating because some boys are the right one for Anne, others, they might as well be running and screaming if my husband disapproves of him. But that's how some parents are. The fact that you and Anne wanted to talk to me about this, about me letting Anne have more freedom in life and that you want my blessing in continuing to date my daughter, it actually shows that you're probably the right boy for Anne. Even though you were attempting to prevent a possible unwanted future between me and my daughter is quite comforting." said Mrs. Boonchuy in surprised agreement. "Looks like you have my blessing."
She slowly held out her hand to shake Charlie's hand but Charlie smiled and instead of shaking her hand, he came to her and hugged her instead. Something that Mrs. Boonchuy didn't expect which she slowly hugged him back. Anne even joined in on the hug as the three were hugging each other.
Everything in Charlie's mind faded to black as he was still sleeping in the bed of the caravan. He smiled and that wasn't long till the caravan rocked a bit as if they had a crash. Charlie jerked awake and literally fell out of the bed that he was sleeping in.
"For the love of Magic Johnson!" said Charlie annoyed.
Charlie got up and saw that Sprig and Polly were getting up as well since the crash dislodged them from their seats a little.
"Did we just crash?" asked Charlie.
As the caravan stopped. The topside exit opened and Anne was the first to flop inside while Hop Pop literally fell inside. Both of them looking severely exhausted. Charlie went to help them up as he was making sure they didn't have any wounds which they were lucky to have not had any injuries, they just looked like they went a day without sleep.
"Whoa! Where do you guys think you're going? We've got a schedule to keep." said Polly.
"Polly." groaned Charlie.
"Guys, we've been driving nonstop for like twenty hours." said Anne with a tired groan.
"Twenty hours of a teenager and a full grown adult driving? Where was I when this was going on?" asked Charlie surprised.
"You offered to drive for us but I was too stubborn to let you. I thought we could handle it. And you were sleep for ten hours." answered Anne.
"Just a little shut-eye and we'll be back on the road by morning." Hop Pop advised.
"But we're so close!" said Sprig.
"Yeah! Can't you just power through one more night? Please, please, please?" said Polly putting on the adorable eyes. "I wanna sleep in a real bed."
Charlie stepped in and gave Sprig and Polly a disapproving look while sighing.
"Guys, there's no way they can do that for a second longer. Even I want to get back to Wartwood too but not at the expense of one's health. Why do you think I requested King Andrias to let Lady Olivia have a day off to rest back in Newtopia?" Charlie kindly argued.
Anne, Sprig, Polly and Charlie remembered why he did that for Lady Olivia since they were at fault for her having a horrible night, despite the fact they had the time of their lives during the sleepover with Marcy.
"Soul brother is right. I know how you guys feel, but you're not the ones who have to drive." Anne stated.
Sprig suddenly gotten an idea in mind as he remembered something. Anyone whose wide awake could drive.
"Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you two sleep, and we can get us home!" Sprig suggested.
"Yeah! Remember how we owned Quarreler's Pass?" said Polly looking thrilled from the memory.
"One, Hop Pop is never doing that to anyone again. I said it was a bad idea to make you two reconcile by going through that area, even if the bickering was becoming louder than a rock concert that goes on all night." said Charlie looking at Hop Pop with a sigh.
Hop Pop remembered that Charlie advised against the idea of having them reconcile over Quarreler's Pass and made sure no one will ever do that suggestion ever again for the sake of safety and one's well-being. But Hop Pop also knew that Sprig and Polly driving was a bad idea for reasons other than the fact they didn't read Bessie's manual.
"Oh, you sweet, sweet, ignorant kids." chuckled Hop Pop shaking his head.
Hop Pop's smile turned into a visibly shaken, warning, wide eyed expression with a hint of terror.
"Amphibia changes at night. And not for the better, let me tell you. The nocturnal leech flies are bad enough, but I've even heard folks tell of evil spirits wandering these parts. Real spookums and such!" said Hop Pop sounding like he was spooked by the very thought of it. "Haven't seen any myself, of course, but you know, could happen."
Anne nodded in agreement as she was too tired to argue. Hop Pop's face turned to a slight stern expression when he knew of another reason why they shouldn't drive during the night. What Charlie heard him say really left him wondering. What sort of dangers at night lurked through out Amphibia that Hop Pop spoke of. Charlie took hold of Hop Pop's hand as if to react but Hop Pop gave him a comforting expression.
"Stay in till dawn." said Charlie looking alarmed.
"Charlie, it's alright, we're okay if we just wait till morning to keep going." reassured Hop Pop. "Plus, neither of you read Bessie's driving manual! Anne and Charlie read it, but Anne is too tired to keep driving like I am."
Sprig and Polly were disappointed and annoyed but before they could say another word. Hop Pop cut them off as he raised a hand to silence them.
"What if Charlie drove? He's been sleeping for hours and he's wide awake?" Sprig suggested.
"I know Charlie is wide awake and has read the manual but this time, I'd rather not have anyone drive during the night, well, only if we had no other choice that is. But you too are not driving, and that's final. But if we have to make a quick getaway, Charlie, you'll be the one driving but keep your sword with ya in case of something monstrous approaches." said Hop Pop putting his foot down and letting them know that Charlie is the only one who'll drive if they have to make a quick escape.
"Now, if you'll excuse us." said Anne.
Both Anne and Hop Pop turned to flop right inside the bed. They landed on the soft bed in a light thud while they immediately fell asleep and started to snore. Sprig and Polly were visibly annoyed and were climbing out of the caravan to lay down on top of the caravan while they were having a conversation about what Hop Pop had said. Charlie could hear them and he listened in.
"This is messed up! Sure, we're young and made mistakes. But we've proven we can handle ourselves!" said Polly annoyed.
"I know, right? What in the world could be so dangerous out there that we haven't lived through already?" Sprig concurred.
"I've been eaten eight times, Sprig. Eight times." Polly stated. "I sort of look forward to it now."
Charlie heard them and opened the door to the topside exit and confronted them.
"You should never look forward to something as messed up like that." said Charlie.
The two turned to spot Charlie looking at them with one of his eyebrows raised. Sprig and Polly had a nervous grin as they suspected he was eavesdropping.
"I take it you heard a little bit of that, didn't ya?" said Polly with a nervous chuckle.
"Yes, besides, you do raise a point on being through a lot, especially when it comes to facing monsters, but it's better if we listen to Hop Pop about this. If it were up to me right now, I'd drive us but Hop Pop would rather us wait till morning." Charlie explained.
Suddenly, an idea popped into their heads. The only person whose wide awake to drive is Charlie, Hop Pop and Anne are asleep and too tired to stop them.
"Hey, wait a sec. Hop Pop and Anne are asleep, right? So asleep they won't even know if someone was to take the reins and drive us home right now! And when they wake up, they'll be so grateful to be home, they'll completely forget to be mad at us!" said Sprig sitting up with a grin. "But since they're asleep, there's one person whose slept for ten hours, has already read Bessie's driving manual and can drive Bessie, how do we connect these dots?"
The two kids slowly turned their heads towards Charlie and he saw them looking at him after Sprig explained what they could do. Charlie knew what they meant by now and he wasn't liking the sounds of it.
"I'm not doing that. Tondemonai." Charlie told them.
"Oh, come on. You're the only one wide awake who knows how to drive." argued Polly.
"But it's not a last resort right now. And you two are too young and haven't read the manual. Also, didn't what Hop Pop say scare any of you a little bit?" asked Charlie.
The two shook their heads and Charlie had his answer. Polly had an idea to convince Charlie to do this as she smiled.
"You know, if you were to drive us to Wartwood and get us there by morning. Anne might kiss you on the lips." Polly told him eagerly.
Charlie fell silent as he was thinking about Anne kissing him. He remembered the dream about convincing Anne's mother to let Anne have more freedom in her life, helping them see eye to eye and to have her blessing to date her which in his dream, he remembered it worked, even though he knew dreams and reality are completely different but being kissed by Anne on the lips always spun his world around faster than a tornado. He imagined Anne feeling impressed her driven them to Wartwood and made it by morning and that Anne pulled him in for a kiss to his lips, even imagined her with lipstick. He smiled and blushed.
"I'll drive." said Charlie convinced.
"Sprig, you creepy little genius! You sure they're not gonna wake up though, right?" asked Polly.
"Absolutely! Those two are out cold." said Sprig feeling confident.
As Charlie sat in the drivers seat. He grabbed hold of the reins as Sprig looked down at the caravan's window for a brief moment.
"Huh. Wonder if they'll have any dreams." Sprig wondered.
"If I know Anne and Hop Pop. One's dreaming about all his stresses left his body and he's flying in a magical world, being young again with a full head of hair and is probably imaging he's like Pan while Anne's in a candy world and is probably pigging out on sweets that she likes." guessed Charlie.
As Charlie flipped the reins and it made a slapping sound. Bessie drove forwards, the trail they went on was looking like no danger was seen, they crossed part of a road that took them up in a loop like a roller coaster ride as they were going at a fast speed, they came to a big cliff and jumped over it, making the landing on the other side.
"Whoo-hoo! Oh yeah! The Dukes of Hazzard has nothing on me!" cried Charlie in excitement. "Let's slow it down there Bessie, don't want you going overboard."
Bessie let out a couple of chirps and obeyed as she slowed it down but kept the speed at a steady pace.
"That was nuts but I never felt so alive." chuckled Charlie. "But it probably doesn't beat the dream I had of Anne."
Charlie stopped and realized he just blurted something out and both Sprig and Polly blushed with giggling grins.
"What were you dreaming about?" the two asked giggling.
"Meeting Anne's mother and convincing her to let Anne have more freedom, helping them see eye to eye and receiving her blessing to be allowed to date Anne?" said Charlie blushing with a nervous sweat. "Is that normal?"
The two looked at one another and knew that Charlie was feeling a bit embarrassed to admit this to them. They decided not to laugh at him since they knew he's in love with Anne and is now dating her. They figured he was dreaming about meeting the in-laws.
"Sounds normal to me. We were actually thinking you were dreaming about something else like you being a superhero and saving Anne, and you two were..." Polly paused for a moment. "Falling in love."
Charlie was about to say something in reply but Bessie stopped. The three kids looked to see what looked like the road leading in between two mountains with a sign nearby that read "Beware Falling Rocks" painted in gold lettering. They saw two pebbles fall to the ground nearby about ten feet in front of them which they appeared to be the size of basketballs from a distance. Charlie was now sensing the hard part of night driving came. To him, it was like how the beginning of a video game was easy but got harder the further you got into the game.
"You guys saw those rocks, right?" said Charlie.
"Yes!" Sprig and Polly said in unison.
Charlie cleared his throat and his face became stoic.
"Well, end of the line, Polly. There's no way we can dodge a couple of li'l pebbles." said Sprig looking serious for a moment.
As the two frog kids looked at one another, they had a serious expression that immediately turned into smiles and both laughed it off.
"We can handle this." laughed Sprig.
"Don't bet it on, sonny Jim." said Charlie in a deep and low voice.
Sprig knew that when ever Charlie's voice got deep and low, sounding like an Australian adult. He knew that meant Charlie was aware of the danger that's coming to them or he knew that Charlie was dead serious and knew death prone danger was a possibility. Polly on one hand hadn't become familiar with that part of him.
"Bessie, let's be careful on this one, big girl. Understand?" Charlie instructed.
Bessie chirped twice and nodded. Charlie whipped the reins to signal for Bessie to continue onward. At first, the trail through the mountains on the road they're on was looking to be perfectly alright. But their shred of luck ran short when they stopped after a rock roughly a bit larger than the caravan fell to the ground in a loud boom. It shown to have bones lodged in it from no so lucky travelers who previously journeyed through the trail. The impact of the rock made the ground shake along with the caravan. They were wide eyed.
"Well, that's a big rock." said Sprig with a look of dread.
They saw the shadow of something from above and when they looked up, they saw seven huge rocks about to fall right on top of them. Charlie's heart pumped fast from fear but had an adrenaline rush at the same time. Charlie whipped the reins as they all screamed.
"Go Bessie go!" cried Charlie.
Bessie charged forwards as she was making sure to dodge the falling rocks that fell from the top, she was going as fast as she could, dodging left, right, both Sprig and Polly holding onto Charlie as they screamed.
"Hang onto something!" shouted Charlie.
They saw the exit of the trail through the mountains and with Bessie going the speed limit she was, she managed to pass through it in time while the rocks from the trail fell to the ground behind them in loud booms. Bessie slowed to a stop as they took a minute to catch their breath.
"Everyone okay?" asked Charlie speaking in his normal voice.
"I think I just peed on the seat." said Polly recovering from her terror.
"No, I think I peed my pants." said Sprig also recovering from his terror.
"You guys got stronger bladders, no doubt. Not gonna lie, I almost had a heart attack." Charlie stated. "Bessie, you okay?"
Bessie gave two chirps to let Charlie know she was alright, a little shook up, but was alright.
"Well, we obviously nailed that. But, uh, should we stop?" asked Sprig looking at Polly.
"Pshaw! No way! That all you got, night driving?" said Polly looking visibly afraid.
They saw the road ahead and didn't see no mountains or falling rocks. They figured that the worst was behind them but Charlie had a feeling that was only the beginning.
"You two stick close to me and do not leave my side, got it?" said Charlie in a deep and low voice again.
"Then, away we go." said Sprig visibly shaken.
Charlie whipped the reins and Bessie went forwards. The trail they were on now was dark, there were big and tall trees on both sides of the road. In one of the trees on a branch, a scary looking bird with glowing orange eyes chirped out what sounded like "Murder! Murder!" in a scary, raspy, scratchy voice loudly.
They looked up and saw four pairs of glowing yellow eyes from inside a hole in a nearby tree. What emerged from the hole was a strange looking bug that had those eyes on it's body. Polly looked to the side and saw a huge snake with four large, sharp looking fangs that looked like it eaten a dead rodent that it swallowed down hole.
"Could this place get any creepier?" Polly said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Careful, let's not jinx it." said Charlie grim faced. "I'm starting to regret this."
"Wait, who's that?" said Polly looking off into the distance.
They looked to see a tall figure from a distance. The tall figure looked like it had a long grey beard, indicating to be a male adult, it had a top hat with the top part bent over while wearing a a long grey coat with several buttons. He held what looked like a lantern light in his left hand. The tall male figure slowly raised he's right arm up and it looked like it was lifting his right thumb up to hitchhike. The three looked on in alarm.
"Huh. Hitchhiker. What's, uh, our policy on those?" asked Polly.
"Just play it cool. Maybe he's friendly." Sprig said hopefully.
"I don't know about this guys. Back at home, when you're out in the middle of nowhere and on the road, some places will have a sign that warns drivers to not pick up any hitchhikers because they were possibly an escapee from prison. But in this case, I'm afraid of giving this one a ride. That road trip me and my folks went on that had that scary event when our vehicle broke down. I'm still cautious about that." said Charlie shaking.
"Charlie, it's alright. Maybe he just looks this way because he's around Hop Pop's age and the long grey beard probably covers his face. You once said you met an older man who had a long beard and he was jolly. Just play it cool. Maybe he's friendly." Sprig attempted to reassure them.
Charlie breathed in and out calmly as they driven towards him and stopped. They gotten a closer look at him, this time. Sprig called to him as he sounded visibly cautious.
"Hey there, mister. Like that hat." complimented Sprig. "Anything we can help you with today?"
Tall male was silent. He didn't utter a word or sound that shown a response. Charlie suspected the male was possibly mute or possibly hard of hearing. Charlie opened his mouth to speak up but he stopped once they saw that his right hand and thumb took on the appearance of a hook. Lightning flashed and they saw his face. He shown to have a light-colored skin for a tall frog who had one-intact eye but his left eye was glowing a luminous green, he had a scar across his face, a gold tooth, a scar under the right side of his lip, grey hair, and he had what appeared to be a sinister looking grin.
They looked at him with fearful alarm as they sensed they were now face to face with a possible murderer that was waiting for fresh victims to do something deadly to them. Charlie felt like this was a horror film situation.
"Holy Twilight!" screamed Charlie.
"Punch it, guys!" cried Polly.
Charlie whipped the reins again and sped off forwards. The figure didn't follow them but he look on with a smile. They got a far enough distance away from the scary looking male. They let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, that was close. Good thing we're way too good at night driving." said Sprig.
"Preach!" said Polly victoriously.
"I wouldn't be so confident so soon." said Charlie.
They looked to the right and saw a big sign on the right side of the road that read "The Foggy Fjords" but when they looked on and questioned how foggy the next part of the trail was, they were met with a thick fog that they drove through but quickly disappeared when it cleared. Charlie saw that Sprig and Polly had fog on them. Polly had the fog on her looking like she grew a large beard and mustache while Sprig looked like he had the fog making him appear as though he had a large, ridiculous looking hat and a small beard. Charlie was unable to stop himself from laugh.
"Hello Polly Claus and Mountain Man Sprig. Looks like one of you was shopping for hats and the other needs a trim." joked Charlie.
The three briefly laughed it off as they knew Charlie's joke was so funny that they knew he made a funny, big time. Sprig wiped off the fog from his face and head while Polly did the same with herself.
"Oh? I see you two shaved." joked Charlie.
"Oh you!" chuckled Sprig and Polly.
After their laughter died down. They continued on. The road path they were on now was having lots of thick fog in the air. They could barely see the road in front of them but they saw large shadows in the air of what looked like large and scary looking monsters. They heard creature like screeches, growls, and one of the creatures appeared to be gigantic but the fog was too thick to see it's upper body. All they saw was it's legs as it walked passed them, making loud thumps and thuds.
"Stick close and keep low." said Charlie in a deep and low voice. "I once saw something like this in a movie."
"Did anyone make it?" asked Sprig hopefully.
Charlie became wide eyed and let out a big hiccup at the question.
"Let's just say the film was screwed up beyond all reasons and left everyone who saw it confused." said Charlie trying not to arouse alarm.
Hearing that from Charlie made Sprig and Polly figure it was best not to ask what happened in the said film Charlie spoke of since the serious, grim look on his face shown he really didn't want to traumatize them. Charlie knew that what he seen in the film he talked about was something that teenagers and adults could handle but kids wouldn't understand it. They saw more shadows passing over them from above.
"What do you think those things even are?" said Polly.
"I don't have the foggiest idea." said Sprig in a low tone.
Polly felt a bit annoyed at the unintended pun that Sprig told and she playfully poked him in his cheek. He immediately apologized.
"I don't know what those creatures are but I don't want us to stick around and find out or people will be telling ghost stories about us." said Charlie keeping his voice deep and low with a grim face.
They kept going at a steady pace and the fog shown two more shadows of unknown monsters pass overhead which Charlie whispered to them to remain as close to him as possible. They've shown no hesitation in his advice and held onto him by his sides. Charlie kept his eyes and ears open, his senses sharper than his sword by now as the fog kept a lot of things hidden. The only thing that kept him going was keeping Anne and the Plantars alive, keeping his eyes on the road and everywhere around him. He tried not to arouse alarm or panic amongst them as his face was completely emotionless.
"Crazy stuff." Sprig uttered.
That's when Sprig and Charlie looked around them. Sprig looked around by turning his head while Charlie didn't turn his head at all. He only moved his eyes and than moved them forwards to look at the road but the fog was so thick that none of them could see the road in front of them.
"Oh, hey, wait a second. I don't see the road anymore. Charlie, Polly, are we even going the right way?" asked Sprig curiously.
"Since half the trail has been through the mountains where we almost got crushed by giant rocks. A forest infested with dangerous bugs, creepy birds, scary reptiles which now we're going through a foggy trail that we saw shadows of unseen and unknown giant monsters and giant insects, all of which whom are sinisterly dangerous carnivores that kill and eat anything that moves. How is this trail even remotely the right path?" said Charlie keeping his voice low but with a hint of rhetorical sarcasm.
The two younger frog children looked up at Charlie and knew he was right but saw that his face was literally showing no emotion. They didn't know if Charlie was braver than them at this moment or if he was hiding his fear inside and felt whacked out of his mind from horror. Both Charlie and Polly looked forwards and saw the shadow of a person this time ahead.
"Up ahead." Charlie pointed out.
"Hey, look! There's someone! Maybe we can ask..." Polly paused with a now wide eyed look of shaken fear. "Them."
The fog suddenly cleared when they were about to approach a fork in the road but the shadow of a person whom they've hoped was someone who could assist them. It turned out to be the hitchhiker from earlier, much to their horror.
"Oh, my Frog, it's the hitchhiker!" cried Polly.
"How did it get here so fast? It's like that episode from that old black and white show that aired in the sixties." Charlie visibly shaken.
"It can't be! Don't make eye contact." advised Sprig immediately.
The only people who made eye contact with the sinister looking tall hitchhiker was Polly and Charlie.
"Too late." said Charlie and Polly with a sense of dread.
"A fork in the road!" Sprig pointed out.
The tall hitchhiker raised his right arm and pointed his hook to the left. His arm made a rusty creaking sound as if his entire arm was made of rusty metal. As they got closer to him, that's when the hitchhiker motioned his right arm to the left as if trying to tell them to take the trail that's on the left side.
"And he's pointing left!" Sprig said.
"Ahh! Then go right! Right!" screamed Polly in fright.
"Exit stage right!" cried Charlie.
Charlie moved the reins to signal for Bessie to take a right and as Bessie obeyed. As they took the right side of the road's path, they passed by the hitchhiker who again, didn't run after them. As they continued to go forwards at a fast pace. They saw tree branches above about to strike them but Charlie cried out for them to duck and so they did as they avoided the branches that missed them.
As Sprig and Polly screamed in terror. Charlie kept steering Bessie but it started to get scary and strange along the path as they went down like a roller coaster that was going down after going up the highest height. It looked like they were driving upside down, some creatures tried to grab them or cut them but they dodged them. By the time it looked like they were riding right side up. They heard a voice in the wind calling out to their names as if the wind was speaking to them to get their attention.
"What the heck is that?" screamed Polly.
"We got to keep moving!" cried Charlie.
It wasn't long till it looked like the fog cleared and the danger was far behind them. All of them panting for a bit and catching their breath. They felt safe now.
"Where is the hitchhiker? Did we lose em'?" asked Sprig hopefully.
"If we're lucky. He ran out of steam, stopped to catch his breath and gave up when he decided to hell with it." Charlie guessed.
"Definitely. There's no way he could follow us." said Polly looking optimistic.
They let out a sigh of relief with Sprig and Polly laying back as they felt relaxed. Charlie let out a sigh of relief but he suddenly felt a chill as the wind rustled and Charlie just remembered something.
"Hey, did you just get a chill?" asked Sprig curiously.
"Guys, there's something I remembered about horror films." said Charlie in a deep and low voice.
"What's that?" asked Polly.
"They have sequels." said Charlie grimly.
They looked behind them and they saw the tall hitchhiker was now standing on top of the caravan. Lightning struck nearby and illuminated his presence even more. They screamed loudly, even Bessie chirped in her own form of screaming terror.
"Charlie, your sword!" cried Sprig.
"I left it in the fwagon!" said Charlie.
They looked on at the hitchhiker in fear as he suddenly reached out his hook hand and hooked the reins over his hooked hand and tried to steer the caravan to the right. Charlie, Sprig and Polly immediately suspected he was going to steal the caravan but than grabbed a hold of the reins and it looked like they were in a tug of war with the reins with the hitchhiker as he was trying to keep the caravan steering right but the kids tried to pull the reins out of his hook hand. Polly started to get an idea to take the scary looking hitchhiker down.
"That's it! Take that, you creeper!" cried Polly.
She bounced up and attempted to hit the hitchhiker but for some reason. Polly couldn't touch him, literally and she was about to fall. Charlie knew that he didn't want to rely on help from this hitchhiker but he knew that he was the only one who could catch Polly and prevent her from falling to her death.
"No! Hitchhiker, please don't let her fall!" screamed Charlie desperately.
For some reason, the hitchhiker obeyed Charlie's request and he used his hook hand to stab through Polly's hair bow but she was otherwise unharmed. Polly opened her eyes and looked up to see that her bow has gone through the hook.
"Aagh! I've been hooked!" screamed Polly.
"Polly! Hang on!" cried Sprig.
Sprig jumped up to save Polly as he jumped up, grabbed hold of Polly and her bow that had the hook through it ripped, both of them landing on the drivers seat. As Charlie saw that the hitchhiker obeyed a command he gave him to save Polly, he suddenly gotten an idea. He took the reins and held them up for the hitchhiker to take.
"Steer us! Doraibu!" Charlie commanded.
"Are you kidding!" said Sprig shocked.
"Do you two trust me?" asked Charlie.
"Yes!" the two said in unison.
"Than let us put our faith in him!" Charlie advised.
Sprig and Polly didn't trust the hitchhiker, they trust Charlie, but what he was asking them to do was the last thing they wanted to do. But the look on Charlie's face was convincing them to somehow place their faith in the hitchhiker. They looked up at the hitchhiker who nodded to them. It was shockingly weird but they decided to obey Charlie and place their faith into the eerie looking hitchhiker.
"Okay!" they said in unison.
"Brace yourselves!" cried Charlie.
The three kids sat in the driver's seat and held onto each other and the driver's seat as well. They placed their faith into the hitchhiker like Charlie told them to and the hitchhiker pulled the reins back. The caravan started to come to a screeching halt and once the caravan came to a complete stop. Both Sprig and Polly hung onto Charlie but their grip slipped and they fell forwards, landed on Bessie's shell which she uttered a vocal warbling sound. She looked at the two with worry.
"You two okay!" called Charlie.
The two got up and sat up on Bessie's shell which they looked back at Charlie and themselves.
"Polly, you impaled?" asked Sprig.
Polly checked herself out for any puncture wounds and she had none of them. They all were unscathed.
"Um, no, not yet." said Polly.
"Huh. Me neither." said Sprig after inspecting himself.
Wind blew around and the three saw leaves blowing in the wind as the two frog children looked to see if the hitchhiker was still there.
"Hitchhiker, thank the lord for you...huh?" said Charlie.
Charlie looked back as well and the hitchhiker had vanished as if into thin air. He was nowhere in sight and Charlie got up on his feet to look around with his head moving. He saw the hitchhiker was nowhere.
"Sir? Come back! We want to thank you and the lord!" called Charlie.
There was no answer but than sunlight was shining on them and the three of them turned around to see that they made it to the valley. There was a sign nearby that read "Wartwood Three Miles" with an arrow pointing in it's direction. They made it by sunrise.
"We did it!" cried Polly her voice echoing.
The two turned to Charlie as if relieved they listen to him.
"Charlie, how did you know placing our faith in the hitchhiker world work?" asked Sprig curiously.
"Well, I knew that we were desperate and I didn't want to rely on him at first but I figured maybe he could help us if I struck a deal with him. But I didn't think it would work at first. But I'm glad it did." answered Charlie.
"Good thing we stopped when we did. We woulda been goners!" chuckled Sprig.
They looked down and they saw that they were at the edge of a cliff and sharp rocks were at the bottom. If they didn't stop. They would've been skewered. Polly hopped up in victory as she felt like they were victorious in this situation.
"Yeah! And it's all 'cause we're the greatest night drivers ever..." Polly paused.
She turned to see there was a shadow of the hitchhiker and she almost screamed but remembered what Charlie told them. They turned to see the hitchhiker and Charlie felt like he wanted to thank him properly and knew he's going to get the chance now. But the fog cleared and the sun shined on the figure. They saw the hitchhiker wasn't there physically but there was a statue of him nearby. The statue of him stood up on a stone step with a golden plaque sign underneath where it stood.
They got off the caravan and walked over to the statue as they wanted to get a closer look. Sprig started to read the plaque sign aloud.
"Huh. It says here, "This monument is dedicated to Zechariah Nettles, who spent his days guiding travelers away from danger on their way back home." Sprig read.
Sprig had a moment of realization and slapped his forehead.
"Oh, man! Guys, what if that hitchhiker wasn't trying to hurt us, he was trying to help us? No wonder Charlie wanted us to put our faith in him." said Sprig realizing the truth.
Polly and Charlie started to realize this as well. They looked back and saw the path they went on which was dark and dangerous like they remembered. But they looked to the left and saw the path near it that looked safer. They remembered that he was trying to point to the left for them to take the left trail which lead to a safer trailer that was the trail they just now remember taking when they first started their journey to Newtopia. The path they went on was dark but the path Zechariah wanted them to take was a straight line but was sunny with grassy land, a few small lakes and a rainbow was shining. They came to another realization.
"Nanite kotoda!" Charlie uttered.
They turned to see the statue again but they jumped and saw the real Zechariah Nettles standing in front of them but this time. His beard and hair was brown, his skin was perfectly flawless, his teeth was completely white like he took care of his teeth, his clothing was clean and tidy, both his eyes were perfectly intact, his top hat was looking brand new and the top part was standing up high, his nails on his hands and feet were perfectly manicured and pedicured, his scars were gone and he wasn't looking scary at all. It looked like he was now appeared to be thirty years old and he had a warm smile while his right hand was not a hook but a hand.
They stood there looking right at him as he looked right back. It was like he was alive, young and well. Without warning, he raised his right hand up and waved at them.
"Thank the lord for you Zechariah Nettles." said Charlie waving back.
"May the Lord bless you all." said Zechariah Nettles in a deep, low, southern accent.
They immediately saw him disappear in a puff of smoke as he was waving back at them. Now completely gone from sight.
"So that hitchhiker was the ghost of ol' Zechariah, returning from the grave to do us a solid?" said Polly realizing the truth.
"Sure seems like it." replied Sprig.
They took one last look at the statue. Charlie went to hug the statue as if hugging him so that way the ghost of Zechariah Nettles could feel the love and gratitude from them as he uttered the word "Arigatō" and released his arms from the statue.
"What the heck in a handbasket is goin' on out here? You better not have disobeyed me!" cried Hop Pop.
Charlie turned to see that Anne and Hop Pop came out of the topside exit of the caravan, looking well rested. Hop Pop looked at the nearby sign and Charlie suddenly started to feel fear when he saw Hop Pop was looking angry.
"Dang it! I'll bet they fooled Charlie into driving when he told them no. Of all the irresponsible, inconsiderate, juvenile..." Hop Pop ranted.
"Please don't mad!" cried Charlie.
"Wait, HP. Look at them." Anne interrupted.
Anne and Hop Pop turned to see that Charlie was showing remorse or hoping Hop Pop would show some mercy with the guilty look he had on his face. Sprig and Polly were looking just as exhausted as Anne and Hop Pop were earlier but they were dancing and singing a tune that they didn't understand what it meant.
"A ghost, a ghost, a ghost with the most! Without Mr. Nettles, we'd surely be deadles!"
They uttered a laugh but than collapsed from exhaustion. Both now sleeping. Anne and Hop Pop had no idea what was going on or what happened.
"Charlie, what's going on? What happened?" asked Anne almost hesitantly.
"Long story. But please don't be mad. What we did was done with the best intentions but I understand that you didn't want us doing this. But if it makes anyone feel any better. I kept us all alive but I know that we shouldn't have disobeyed. I'm really sorry." said Charlie apologetically.
Anne and Hop Pop looked wide eyed. They climbed out of the caravan and onto the ground as Charlie went over to grab hold of Sprig and Polly and carried them back to the caravan, placing them two inside the caravan for them to sleep in one of the beds. He than came out of the caravan and walked back over to Anne and Hop Pop, pulling them in for a hug as he relieved the scary night was over. They were wide eyed that Charlie was taking responsibility but was hoping they'd have mercy on him.
"I don't know what happened last night, but it looks like they've already learned their lesson." said Anne with a grin.
"All right, all right. I'll let this one slide." Hop Pop sighed. "As for you Charlie, I see that you took responsibility to get us closer to home and we're all in once piece, and not pieces. I may not have liked the idea of you, Sprig and Polly driving at night but next time, if Sprig and Polly convince you to drive at night. Just tell them no, especially after I've warned about what goes on at night."
"I probably can't make any promises but I know that driving through the night was just as you've said. Well, we did get a little help from someone." said Charlie relieved.
After they released their arms from each other. Anne and Hop Pop were curious to who this person was that Charlie just mentioned to them. They walked over towards the caravan.
"Who was this person that helped you, Sprig and Polly?" asked Anne curiously.
Charlie stopped and looked at the statue of Zechariah Nettles one last time. He smiled.
"Just a friendly hitchhiker. We gave him a lift home along the way." said Charlie finally.
The three climbed up the ladder of the caravan. Charlie gave Hop Pop a lift up and the three climbed up on the driver's seat. Hop Pop took hold of the reins and lightly whipped them which Bessie went forwards and they drove off. Charlie held onto Anne who wrapped an arm around him and planted her lips to his in a kiss. Charlie's world spun like a tornado from the kiss and after she pulled her lips off him. Charlie blushed and smiled, he leaned against her as he would take the time to rest a bit.
"Say, Anne, did you have any weird dreams last night?" asked Hop Pop.
Anne and Hop Pop told each other about the weird dreams they both had which Hop Pop knew that Anne's dream started out like a paradise but turned into a nightmare while Hop Pop's dream started out as a nightmare but turned into a paradise. Both of them were agreeing that them dreams of theirs were stranger than fiction.
"Charlie, were you dreaming about anything when you were asleep?" asked Anne curiously.
Charlie fell silent and remembered the dream he had which wasn't weird, strange or insanely crazy.
"I dreamed about meeting your mom." answered Charlie blushing.
Anne blushed and fell silent. She wasn't expecting Charlie to have dreamed about meeting her mother let alone anything else. She was expecting he'd dream of being a samurai warrior who was to save the princess from a monster and that he succeeded. And she was seeing herself as the said princess.
"Was it bad?" asked Anne nervously.
"Actually, it wasn't as bad as you'd think." reassured Charlie.
Anne felt relieved and let Charlie lean against her to rest. He fell asleep with his head resting on Anne's shoulder. As they drove off. Back at the statue of Zechariah Nettles. That frog robot was slowly following them and it looked like what it's purpose was remained unknown.