December 15, 2008 :: 10 days to go!
Inside Link's room, he stood on a chair and turned his lamp on. He had some studying to do about his fighting techniques, and he decided that now was a good time to do it. He got his books out but found it impossible to keep his mind on his work.
The clock read half seven, the twilight time. Mario would be at the woods now, Link decided. He pictured his best friend walking in the wood, or wriggling through a hedge, trying to stay invisible to the keepers. Link closed his book. It was no good. He undressed to his boxers and climbed into his bed. He left the lamp on, and soon he fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes again, the house was silent. Not the silence he was used to, with occasional sounds. This was dead silence, absolutely nothing whatsoever, The lamp was still burning and the clock on the wall read a new time.
Ten minutes past four.
Link jumped out of bed and ran to Mario's room. His bed was empty.
He had promised to be home by half ten at the latest, and anyone who knew Mario knew that he never, ever broke promises.
That meant he was nearly twelve hours overdue.
A frightful sense of doom came over Link. Something had really happened. Link was certain of it. He looked again at the clock. Mario had left at six, which meant he had been gone for far too long. Link ran back to his room and pulled a sweater over his head. His shoes were also the wrong colour, but they were dirty and that took a lot of the whiteness away. How long did it take to get to the wood?
An hour and a half.
Link could run, but that didn't improve the time. He went downstairs to the garage and got his torch. He stopped dead. He couldn't run it - it was six miles. Link was a brilliant runner but he couldn't run six miles.
Then he had an idea.
Why shouldn't he go in Mr Scott's Austin Seven?