John crept around the perimeter of the camp. He kept his eyes on his destination, the green and blue tent that James had let himself be led to. Pausing he tried to assess the best way of entering. He decided on going through the back flap. Hurrying now he lay on his stomach and slithered into the tent. He found himself under a table, which was buckling under the pressure of several large books and maps. There weren't many dryads in the near vicinity of the table so John allowed himself a few moments to assess. He soon found James. He was sitting at a table with the dryad who had led him away. John couldn't believe his luck he had a clear shot. Allowing himself a small smile he brought himself to his knees and took aim. Holding his breath he let go and the rock spun crazily through the air. John watched anxiously as it started to veer off course and head straight for James. John crawled back under the table as the rock hit James straight in the face. Falling off his chair, the dryads looked on in horror as James writhed and groaned on the floor. The dryads sat shocked as James started to wail in pain. One dryad looked around and panicked.
"The oreads are attacking!" Chaos ensued. The dryads ran out of tent screaming for the camp to ready itself. John couldn't see James as the dryads ran over him heading for the nearest exit. Once the tent had emptied John ran over. He rolled James over. His eye was a bloody mess. It had swelled to the size of an orange and was half closed, the skin was grazed a deep purple and his pupil wasn't moving.
"John? What the hell did you do that for?" James' voice was angry and upset. John shook his head and pulled James to his feet. Holding him up with his arm they walked to the entrance. Peeking his head out he saw the camp rushing around, totally unaware of the both of them. John led James to the undergrowth and under the cover of the trees started to walk around the perimeter of the clearing. James soon shook himself free of John's arm. Pressing his eye gently he recoiled in pain. Tears slowly seeped out of his eyes and down his cheeks. John held out his hand but it was slapped away. James hurried forward but stopped a short ahead. "Where are we going anyways?" James' voice sounded low and gruff to John.
"To where that Old Man tricked us." John stopped in front of James. "It's only a short way ahead. We can make it." He placed it on James' shoulder but he shook it off and furiously walked off. John ran to catch up. The boys ended up running the remainder of the way. Paranoid and over protective of each other, the kept hearing unknown sounds and the ground vibrated from, presumedly, marching feet. Soon enough they found themselves close to where they had all gotten separated. James stopped and John caught up.
"How do we know if the others will think to come here?" James stared at the ground. John sighed.
"I don't know. I don't know if they will even still be here, or if they were captured as well." John pulled his hand through his hair and looked at the surrounding bushes. He stared into a nearby bush and was met by a sea of eyes. Yelling and jumping back he felt his heart fall into his stomach as this was received by laughter. James' face broke into a smile and he started to laugh as well. John stood there incredulous as his sisters and cousins emerged from the bush. He started to laugh along and for a moment it was everything was fine. Agnes was the first to stop laughing and notice they were being watched. She pulled on Elizabeth's dress hysterically crying. The children instinctively pressed themselves together as Queen Branwen and her guards stood before them. She tried to make herself taller as the dark girl stared scornfully back at her.
"Hello children." Queen Branwen smiled sadly. She didn't want to break them up, but it couldn't be helped. She watched as the children made a tighter pack. Pryderi looked pointedly at her but she shook her head. Let them have a few moments peace, she thought.
"Boys, it's time you returned to the army. And your cousins can join with you, so some of you will be together still. " Queen Branwen closed her eyes as the girls started to yell.
"What is this place that enlists children into the army?" The dark girl voiced her opinion the loudest. Queen Branwen held her gaze before she broke it off to speak to her guards.
"Prepare to take them away." Queen Branwen felt sick in her stomach as the guards nodded and tensed. Amelia noticed and tried to stall. Stepping forward she walked right up to the dryad queen.
"You can't take them away, you can't force them to fight for your…cause, whatever it is." Amelia tried to fathom what was going on in the small queen's head. The queen's head drooped. Two guards grabbed Amelia by the arms and started to lead her away. The children started to yell and more guards stepped forward. Queen Branwen turned away and tried to ignore it, but it became too much.
"No, don't. I don't want to put them through any more." The guards hesitated, unsure of what was meant to happen. Out of the trees a stooped figure emerged.
"It's okay, I will take them." Queen Branwen saw the children recoil and Amelia hurtle back to the group as the oread Manawydan rubbed his hands together and watched the children intensely. Queen Branwen coughed nervously. "I'm not so sure they are for the taking Manawydan." The oread turned to the fragile queen. He smiled grotesquely. "Ah, Your Majesty. Oh course they are meant to be taken. They came into our woods and disturbed the peace, I will make sure they are adequately punished." A shiver ran down Queen Branwen's spine. She shook her head firmly. Turning back to Pryderi she issued orders.
"Take the children back to the border and see them safely across." She smiled sadly at the children and Pryderi went to walk off. Manawydan cut them off. His face was a bright red colour and his mouth was set in a scowl.
"These are my children, Your Majesty," he said through gritted teeth. "I will not have them sent out of here like it is alright for them to walk in and out of here any time they want." The queen cowered under his gaze but her guards were already walking briskly away with the children. She shook her head again and started to walk around Manawydan. He let out a howl of frustration and stalked after the children and the guards.
The guards noticed and started to lead the children away faster. Jane pulled on one of their arms.
"How far is it to the edge of the forest?" The guard looked surprised but answered almost immediately.
"We know some short cuts so it is only a short, short way." Jane looked back at the Old Man advancing quickly. "What about the Old Man? He will catch us!" The guard conferred with the others and the group started running. Manawydan matched their speed. His grip missed Agnes' dress. John kicked his legs and left Manawydan howling in the middle of the path. Agnes held onto John's hand as they raced to catch up with the group. The guards suddenly stopped and spoke quickly to the children.
"Manawydan is a very powerful oread, we must set an ambush for him in order for you to escape safely." The children swallowed their fear and nodded. The guards hid the children among the bushes and then jumped up into the trees. Manawydan soon came hurling down the path. He slowed down and sniffed the air. Approaching more cautiously he walked into the ambush unknowingly. When he had passed the first five guards and was halfway between the next set of guards, they all dropped down and started to fire arrows at him. A dryad veered off the path, holding his head while Manawydan tried to stop the arrows from finding his heart. He concentrated so much on the guards that Fred crept up to the road, and taking the lost dryad's bow and arrow fired a shot directly into his heart. Shrieking, Manawydan turned to deal a blow to Fred but was knocked out by a shot from John's slingshot. The children looked at Manawydan's body with a mixture of disgust and relief. The guards shook their heads and hurried the children on. It was half way through the afternoon when the river became a creek and the little birds returned. Still the children staggered on. Suddenly the guards stopped and saluted the children. The children gave them blank looks.
"This is where we leave you." Pryderi nodded where the trees stopped and the manicured lawns began. The children laughed and smiled before looking at themselves.
"We look like we've dragged through the woods!" Jane exclaimed. Twisting around she took in the state of her dress and hair. The guards sniggered and smirked.
"It's alright children. The woods and your world work on different time. You will get back to your house and it will be like you just left." Pryderi nodded again and the guards marched off.
"Yeah, that's great, but what about my dress?" Jane yelled after them. Shaking her head as they walked off the children stood still.
"This is it, we're home…"Amelia whispered. She looked back at the woods and shook her head. Turning back she also took in the state of her dress and hair. She sighed, mother would not be happy. She walked out of the wood and stopped as Jane screamed.
"What? What is it?" Amelia turned back frightened to her sister. All of her cousins and siblings were staring shocked at her. Amelia hugged herself and jumped as she felt the sleeve of her dress. She looked down and saw all the stitching and hemming back to perfection. Tentatively she felt her hair and it was once again in the tight bun. Screaming with joy she saw the others run through the border and their clothes became again what they once were. James tentatively put pressure on his eye and whooped with delight as he could once again open and close. The children stood still as they heard sounds coming from the woods. Not waiting to hear what it was, they ran back up to the house. Totally forgetting what the guards had told they fell into the house and running through the rooms they piled into the dining room. Huddling together and panting, they stared relieved at their parents shocked faces. Jessica had the salad bowl halfway in the air and annoyed she put it back on the table.
"Parkers! What do you think you are doing? Get back outside!" Scowling she went back to her lunch.
"But we've been away for a whole night mum!" Agnes blurted out. Her father turned good-naturedly to the children. "Games stay outside guys. Now c'mon, go back to the kitchen. Martha will be happy to serve you dessert." The adults turned back to their conversation. Caroline waved them away and Jonathon gave them a look before returning to his lunch. Amelia pulled on Fred's arm and muttered a communal come on and the children returned to the orchard. The sat in a circle, with Jane flicking tree seeds at Agnes and the rest of the children sat sullenly. Elizabeth looked up.
"It was real, wasn't it? I mean, we did sleep in that room, and we did see all those creatures, didn't we?" The group all nodded and sighed simultaneously. John turned to James.
"Hey is your eye okay?" James nodded and punched John in the arm, he shrugged they were at a truce. Fred stood up and looked over at the woods. A flock of birds erupted from the treetops as if frightened by an army. He kicked the dirt and walked a short way off. Instinctively the rest of the children followed. They walked back down to the border and stared into the woods. Experimentally John put his arm through the border. Nothing happened.
"The guards did say that time wouldn't have moved forward at all." Oliver stated. The children trudged back up to the house. The maid Martha stuck her head out of the side door.
"Masters and Misses, your families are ready to go now." She disappeared quickly and
the children were left by themselves again. They looked at each other and nodded. It
didn't matter that their parents didn't believe them, and the servants thought they were
weird, and they had ruined their clothes, been kidnapped, injured each other and nearly
died, it had happened and only they needed to know, really.