CHAPTER SIX
David and Amanda reached Little Lamb Village. Amanda was nervous all the time. She hated farmers. They went to some of the little shops in the village but couldn't find anything interesting.
"Are you hungry?" David asked.
"You know I am. But I'm scared to eat here."
"Don't be. We can go to the bar and have something to eat."
"Or we can order it and eat it in the carriage."
"Sounds better." David said and they went to the Baa-Baa Bar.
As they entered, the people inside greeted them. They recognized Prince David, but didn't know who was the girl with him. Amanda didn't go out of the palace very often. And wherever she went, she stayed in the carriage and the driver brought her what she wanted. She never liked the idea of being a daughter of a famous person. Not to mention the daughter of the two of the four who saved the Nine Kingdoms.
"Let's make this quick." She said to David in a low voice.
As they reached the bartender, who was a young boy, David ordered some food that is suitable to be taken with them. Of course, the young bartender offered sandwiches.
"Make it bacon sandwiches please." Amanda said.
"Alright Miss." The young boy replied. After a few minutes he gave them a bag full of sandwiches and some fruit, that David asked for. He paid the boy and they went out.
"Let's get to the carriage or I'll have to run after those fluffy sheep!" Amanda said as she looked at the sheep that were running around in the village.
"Calm down kid! You don't want to make a scene, don't you?"
"Let's get out of here!"
They went to the carriage. The driver was waiting for them. He opened the door and helped Amanda to get in. David followed her, and the driver closed the door.
"Where to Your Highness?" he asked.
"To the forest. We'll spend the night there."
"But Your Highness, it's dangerous."
"I know what's dangerous and what's not. Take us there." David said dryly.
"As you wish Your Highness." The driver bowed and went to his seat. He drove the carriage through the forest.
It was almost dark. Amanda was eating her share of the sandwiches and David ate some fruit.
"This is delicious!" Amanda said.
"When was the last time you ate today?"
"Breakfast."
"Me too, but I'm not that hungry." He said as he stared at her way of eating.
"You don't know how it feels to be a wolf."
David smiled and continued his apple. "How about stopping here?" he asked.
"Good place." Amanda said without looking out.
David took his head out of the window and ordered the driver to stop. The carriage stopped and they got out.
"We need to put on a fire." David said.
"And I need to do some hunting!"
"Come on kid! You can't leave me alone!"
"You have the river to talk to. Besides, you're too slow to go hunting with."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah." She said and put her hands on her hips.
"Alright then, I'm coming with you." David said and ordered the driver to get some woods and put on a fire.
He and Amanda ran into the forest. Amanda was sniffing the air trying to find some rabbits. Those were her favorite. She never hunted any other animals. She left them for her dad to hunt.
"I smell them here." She whispered and pointed to a direction. "When they come out, try to catch at least one of them."
"Alright." David replied.
Amanda walked carefully to the place where she suspected to find rabbits, and as soon as she got near it, three rabbits jumped out of the place and ran. David chased one of them, and Amanda caught one as soon as it got out of it's hiding place. "Dave! I got one. You can leave them alone." She said. David came back, breathing heavily.
"I never thought that catching a little rabbit will be this hard." He said.
"It's an art. Not everyone can do it." She said with a smile.
They got back to the carriage. The driver was already sleeping near the fire.
"And father wanted to send him as a guard. He's already asleep!"
"Shhh. Can you hear that?" Amanda said. She turned to the direction of the voices.
"Foot steps." David said. "Someone's coming. Can you smell them?"
Amanda sniffed the air. "They're two. One is a human, but I can't recognize the other."
They looked at the direction of the voice and saw a sparkling person reaching them, with a human girl.
"Stay where you are, and identify yourself." David said in a loud, confident voice. The driver woke up and stood quickly.
Tara and Crystal stopped. "Crystal, what should we do now? I'm tired, and I can't run if those were some kind of criminals. If I walk another step I'll die." Tara said.
"Those aren't criminals. I don't know who they are, but they are honest people." Crystal said.
"Introduce yourself please." David called again.
"My name is Crystal. And this is Tara. We are lost." Crystal said.
"Where do you come from? How can we trust you?"
"I'm from the Seventh Kingdom, and Tara is from the Tenth. Can you help us please? Can we approach you? She's so tired to stand on her feet."
"Tenth? Kid, isn't that how New York is called over here?"
"Yes. Let them come near Dave." Amanda said.
"You can come." David told the girls.
Crystal held Tara by the shoulder as they walked. "Crystal, I can't go on much more. I feel dizzy." Tara said and collapsed.
"Tara!" Crystal hardly managed to keep Tara from falling. David ran to help her.
"I'll carry her. Go to the fire." He said. He carried Tara and put her on the ground near the fire. Amanda brought a blanket from the carriage and put it on Tara.
"What happened to her?" she asked and used a wet cloth to wipe the blood from Tara's head, that was caused by a scratch when she fell out of the mirror.
"How did you manage to go to the Tenth Kingdom? There's only one mirror and it belongs to the king!" David said.
"I fell through the mirror by accident while I was trying to escape from the trolls."
"Trolls? They're supposed to be in their kingdom!" David said. He was getting confused.
"I was on a visit to your kingdom, and on my way I saw them examining the mirror. They saw me and ran after me. They wanted to kill me. And while I was trying to avoid the troll dust, I stepped through the mirror by accident. And in the 10th kingdom, Tara was the only one who could sense my presence. So, I asked her to hide me."
"And how did you get back here?" Amanda asked.
"Tara hid me in her house, and the trolls came there. They told her to give me to them, but she said that she hasn't seen me anywhere. And asked them to come a few days later. She wanted to help me get back here before they get me." Crystal lowered her head. "And today, we went for shopping together. And when we were back to her house, it was in a mess. They were there, and they killed her parents. It was all my fault." She started to cry.
"Hey, it wasn't your fault." Amanda tried to calm her. "Everyone knows how trolls are."
"They know that here, not over there. If I didn't go there in the first place, non-of this would have happened. And now we both are lost. I don't know how to get back home, and she wants revenge for her parents, but I don't know how to help her. Although, I offered her to come here."
David and Amanda exchanged looks. They didn't know what to say. Suddenly, Tara started to move.
"Mom, dad?"
"Tara! Are you alright?" Crystal said and came near her.
Tara opened her eyes and saw Crystal by her side. "What happened?"
"You fainted." Crystal said.
Tara managed to sit. She looked around and saw three new faces. "Where are we? Who are these people? Can they see you?" she whispered.
"Yes they can. We are in the fourth kingdom. Don't you remember?" Crystal asked.
Tara thought for a moment, and remembered why she was there. Her eyes filled with tears.
"Everything will be fine." Amanda said and gave Tara a cup of water.
"Thanks." Tara said and took the cup. She drank the water slowly.
"How do you feel miss?" David asked.
"I think I'm fine."
"Good. I guess we all should have a sleep now, and we'll discuss everything in the morning." David said.
The driver got up and went to check on the horses. Amanda and David slept near each other; Crystal lay next to Tara. The driver came back and lay in the same place he was sleeping a while ago.