Hi everyone, I'm so sorry for the delay. This chapter gave me such a hard time. I had no idea where I wanted to take it. I suppose this chapter turned out all right, though it wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped it would be.

On another note, I saw Wicked again last night! It was amazing! My school has mother daughter theatre night every year, and I've been looking forward to this since they handed the forms out in November. Sitting through school was torture, and we had to take school buses into Manhattan because my school couldn't splurge for a nice bus, but it was worth it. We had crappy seats (all the way on the right of the mezzanine) but that didn't matter, because I was practically shaking with joy from the first chord of 'No One Mourns the Wicked' (actually since I stepped into the theatre) until I got home and had to go to sleep. Kendra Kassebaum was hysterical as Galinda, and Julia Murney was very good too. I knew every line before they said it, yet I still laughed at everything and bawled at the end. I guess that's when you know you have a problem.

I'm sorry for blathering on like this, but I'm still in the after effects of immense joy. My mom was making fun of me for being in a state of Wicked induced bliss for 6 hours (and buying $70 worth of merchandise). My mom and friends all liked the show too, which made me quite happy, although judging by the strange looks I was getting they didn't enjoy it as much as I did. I couldn't wear my t-shirt since we had to dress up, so I wanted to wear green eyeliner, but my mom made me take it off. Woe is me. Oh well, seeing the play a second time is just as amazing as the first time. I just realized I've seen RENT since that last time I updated as well. That was amazing as well (I'm going to see it again with my friends in June) just not as amazing as Wicked! Gah, I really should shut up now. On with the story!

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Elphaba felt a shiver run up her spine as Zeke's voice drifted up the stairs. Fiyero, who was pressed up against her, felt the tremor and looked at her concernedly, but Elphaba paid him no mind. Everyone knew what must have happened, Zeke had found the Grimmerie. The question that hung in the air now was what would happen next.

Mumbles about the book were already floating up the steps. It looked far too foreign and ancient to belong in the little farm house, and everyone knew it. Even still they could hear Hunk protesting weakly that he'd taken the book out of the library and had misplaced it. No one believed his blatant lie, and most had already connected the large book with its true owner.

Elphaba's thoughts were whizzing at a hundred miles an hour. There seemed to be no way out of this situation. They needed the Grimmerie to get home, but there was no possible way to get it back from the farm hands. If they waited up here, assuming that the members of the mob didn't come upstairs and rip them to pieces, Zeke and Hickory would most likely take the green book with them when they left. If Elphaba charged downstairs and surprised them she could probably get the book, but even if she managed to get through the mass of angry people on the doorstep she most likely wouldn't get far enough to actually open up the book and chant a spell before the mob caught up to her. Besides, that still left the issue of how the other four people who were trapped upstairs with her would escape. Their situation seemed hopeless. She closed her eyes in frustration and continued to mull over all possible courses of action.

Surprisingly enough, it was actually Glinda who came up with a plan of action. She had been scrutinizing the room for all possible means of escape and it turned out there were only two, the door and a window on the far side of the room. The door was most obviously out of the question, as the only place they could go from there was downstairs, and into arms of the waiting mob. The window, however; was on the side of the house, which meant that they would not be seen unless they went around to the front. Glinda could easily float everyone down in her bubble, but the real question was where to go from there. After all, they still couldn't go anywhere without the Grimmerie, which was now downstairs under the watchful eyes of Zeke and Hickory.

Standing up, Glinda decided that their best bet was to get out of the house and think up a course of action from there. After all, it wouldn't do for all of them to be found huddled against the door of a bedroom. If that happened there'd be no safe way out, for it would take several minutes for Glinda to float everyone safely to the ground. Taking a deep breath, she stood and cleared her throat.

Everyone turned from the door to look at Glinda, who felt the little confidence she had falter under the gaze of her friends. Shakily, she tried to summon up her Glinda the Good voice, "Look, we can't just sit here and wait for those people to come up and find us. That window over there leads to the side of the house, I can get everyone down one at a time in my bubble, but we have to act quickly."

Everyone in the room simply stared at Glinda for a moment, before Elphaba stood up and moved to her side, "Glinda's right. We can't just sit here and wait to be captured. I have been through way too much to be captured by a couple of Kansas farmers. Let's go."

Glinda was extremely grateful for Elphaba's support. Elphaba had so much more confidence, and spoke with conviction. Everyone stood up and moved to the window at once and Glinda took a deep breath before she prepared to conjure her bubble. She had Boq slip himself through the window and balance on the ledge, and then summoned the bubble to carry him to the ground. He looked a bit startled as he was incased by the large pink sphere, and he stood stock still until it popped and he was safely on the ground. Glinda repeated this two more times, until it was only she and Elphaba left standing by the window pane.

"You know, I still prefer my method of travel,' said Elphaba, throwing her leg over the windowsill.

Glinda just gave her friend a smile as she summoned the bubble to carry Elphaba to the ground as well. She knew her friend could have easily done the spell herself, but she was glad Elphaba had simply accepted Glinda's help. It made Glinda feel more confident to be the one handling the situation for a change.

Now the only one left, Glinda too stepped over the ledge and summoned her bubble with a flourish, joining the others, including the still smirking Elphaba, on the ground. She stepped lightly from her bubble, and peered around the side of the house. She could see that most of the crowd had entered the house, and those who hadn't been able to squeeze into the living room where standing on the front porch trying to look over the shoulders of those in front of them.

Glinda turned back to the group behind her, "There's no way we're going to get in there without being seen. There are too many of them; we'll be spotted as soon as we step around the corner."

Dorothy looked thoughtful for a moment before she stepped forward, "I can go in Glinda. After all, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't believe any crime of me. I'll pretend that I got away from you and Elphaba and that I've turned against you. Then, when their guard is down, I'll grab the book and run."

Elphaba looked thoughtful for a moment before she nodded, "Alright, just be careful. We'll watch the door. Once you have the book run straight for the cornfield where we first arrived, we'll follow right behind you."

Fiyero seemed a bit surprised that Dorothy had become so good at plotting, "I wouldn't have believed such treachery from you young lady," he said, wagging his finger, pretending to chastise her.

Dorothy smiled a bit before she replied, "Well look at the company I've been keeping," and turned on her heel, making her way back to the house. The others watched her go, looking after her from their hiding place.

Those who were standing on the steps of the house turned their heads sharply as Dorothy approached, their bodies tensing. However, they relaxed as soon as they realized who was approaching them. One of the women in the group dropped her pitchfork off to the side and enveloped Dorothy in a bone crushing hug. The group on the side of the house watched the proceedings with apprehension.

Dorothy looked nervously up at people she hadn't seen in months, eyeing their weapons nervously. However, they seemed kind enough, and seemed to harbor no ill intentions at the moment. She took a deep breath as the crowd parted, allowing her inside. She jostled her way trough to the center, where Hunk was losing an argument with Zeke and Hickory.

"Then where did this book come from Hunk? Don't give me that bull that you know nothing about this," said Zeke, gesturing to the large leather book in his arms. He'd found the pages to be full of some sort of gibberish, but that had just made him even more suspicious. Something fishy was most definitely going on here, and he knew Hunk was involved somehow.

However, Hunk was spared having to answer as he realized Dorothy had joined them, "Dorothy!" he exclaimed, surprised. He'd seen the group disappear upstairs before the mob had come in, and they had most certainly not come back down by way of the stairs. He assumed that magic was involved some how, but he didn't spare much thought to the issue. He was too concerned about how Zeke and Hickory would react to the girl's presence. Neither man seemed to be in the right state of mind at the moment.

However, he was surprised when Zeke whipped around and immediately enveloped Dorothy in a hug. "Oh thank goodness. I was afraid you'd been dragged off somewhere by those lunatics! I knew they were trouble from the moment I saw them!" he reiterated.

Dorothy returned the hug, winking at Hunk, who was still looking mildly confused, over Zeke's shoulder as she did so. Hunk still looked a bit baffled, but he smirked a bit as he realized that the girl most definitely had something up her sleeve.

Dorothy pulled away from the hug after a moment, eyeing the book in Zeke's arms nervously. She had to grab it and push her way through the crowd without being captured. She only had one shot at this. If she couldn't pull the book from his arms or got caught before she made it out the door they'd realize her intentions. If that happened then there was no way she was getting out of here, at least not without dragging her friends into this mess. She swallowed hard; she had to get Zeke to let his guard down first.

Putting on a show of fake hysterics, she cried, "Oh Zeke I'm so glad to see you. It was horrible! Those two wretched women turned out to be nothing but trouble."

She put her face in her hands, slyly peering through her fingers as she conjured up some crocodile tears. She saw Zeke move to comfort her, his grip on the Grimmerie loosening as he did so.

The events of the next several seconds were a blur. Snapping out of her despair suddenly, Dorothy snatched the book from Zeke and turned sharply, darting for the exit. She heard Zeke and Hickory cry after her, and felt one of them try to grab her arm as she rushed forward. She pushed her way through the startled crowd, the members of whom were caught completely off guard by Dorothy's sudden change in disposition. Someone grabbed her arm, but she yanked herself free, stumbling forward as she tried to keep up her momentum. Somehow she managed to make it out, and she jumped off of the steps of the house and kept moving.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her friends suddenly burst into view, but she did not slow her pace. She couldn't have stopped running at that moment if she had wanted to.

Finally, when Dorothy felt as if her lungs were about to burst, they reached the town and stopped for breath. The people in the square looked curiously at the strange group, but none of them seemed to recognize them as the fugitives from the news, especially since Elphaba had once again covered herself with her long cloak. Dorothy was panting too heavily to speak, but she handed the large book to Elphaba, who smiled gratefully.

"Nice job," Elphaba said hastily, "We don't have time to stop. We should get back to that corn field before someone here recognizes us. We don't have time to waste.

The others nodded in agreement, and they turned to leave when suddenly a voice sounded from behind. Fear shot through the group as they turned around and were met by the sight of the Wizard, flanked on either side by Zeke and Hickory. Hunk stood next to them, looking at a loss to do anything. They could see the rest of the angry crowd in the distance, moving toward them quickly. Elphaba cursed.

They'd been caught.

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Ok, I know I already too up way too much author's note room, but lemme just take a bit more. Sorry for the cliffhanger. Hopefully the next chapter won't take me as long to write now that I know generally how I want this to end. I think we have about two chapters left now. How depressing :/

Anyway, let me answer a couple of reviews quickly:

OMG it's WickedJelly: OMG, so it is! Nice pen name change :) Sparky huh? Makes me picture a jack russell terrier. Bark!

X-Kate-X: Lol, hanging on to books is harder than it sounds! I've left the same books in my math classroom so often that my teacher told me to hold on to them or she was going to tape them to me…. Yay for getting weird looks! I don't know what I'm gonna do when this is over either! I don't think I want to do a sequel to this one, but I'm most definitely going to start working on something else. Glad you're enjoying the story!

OMGitsASH: Hey, you saw RENT the same day as me right? What did you think? I thought it was amazing, and I bought one of those playbills they were selling at the end too.

Well, since my author's note is probably longer than the chapter (because no one else would listen to me ramble on as I professed my undying love for Wicked) I'll be shutting up now.

I'll try to update soon! S.P.