The Road to Middle-Earth

A fanfiction by MushrooomsPTook

Disclaimer: I own nothing. You might as well say it owns me!

Chapter Four: Whitewashing the Fence

I gave a wide yawn as I shifted in my sleep. I could feel the sun's intense rays beaming down upon me and I was hot, but I refused to be persuaded out of my slumber. I yawned again, fighting to hold on to my dreams.

Presently a shadow came to fall where I rested and then it spoke.

"Alayna?"

Okay, perhaps that might persuade me.

"Hmm," was my simple reply.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

I stirred, blinked open my eyes slowly and looked at Alice. She looked as though she had woken from her nap a while ago and had been debating how long she could put off waking me. I stretched and sat up, looking around.

"Where are we?" I asked no one in particular. We had come quite far from Munchkin Country and I wondered if we were still in Oz. The red-colored road was still in plain sight and we were in the grass just a few feet away.

"I don't know. This is where you wanted to stop for a nap. Alayna—I really have to go!"

I didn't waste any time. Clearly it was now or never for Alice, for she was hunched over doing her I-gotta-go-now dance and she looked most uncomfortable. My eyes roamed the area, looking for some privacy.

"Okay, see that tree? Why don't you go behind that and I'll stand guard."

Alice nodded her head quickly and sprinted toward the big tree—one of the few trees—that wasn't too far away. I stood up after she was gone and stretched my arms overhead. I didn't know the time, but I guessed it was just past lunchtime. I bent down to the ground and began rummaging through my backpack, first pulling out my blanket and laying it out neatly on the ground. I concluded that this spot was as good as ever. Then, having gone back to the pack, I began looking for something for Alice and I to eat. I pulled out two sandwiches, two apples, a block of cheese, and a couple packs of fresh water that had been given to us by Glinda just before leaving Munchkin Country.

I set all of these things down on the blanket before following suit. I wondered how far we had gone since Munchkin Country and thought about how long it would take before we were out of Oz. Already, the scenery had changed. There were fewer trees, fewer flowers, and the grass grew longer here. The colors had sombered and there were no longer any papery looking objects. Everything was green here. The weather remained the same. I shuddered, however, when a slight breeze whispered over me. I leaned back on my hands, stretched out my legs, and looked up in the sky. The clouds were thicker here.

Alice chose that moment to bound back and I was happy to see that she had abandoned her dance at the tree.

"Better?" I asked as she got nearer. She simply nodded with a smile that plastered her face. "Good. Then sit down next to me and have something to eat."

Alice didn't need any more encouragement. She plopped down as soon as her feet touched the blanket and held out her hands for a sandwich.

By the time we finished our lunch, the breeze had grown into a steady stream of cool air, so I pulled out a jacket each for Alice and myself, thankful I had thought to pack them, before putting away the blanket. Before setting off, I started doing the gotta-go-now dance and excused myself to use the tree, and we were ready to continue our journey.

We hadn't walked for a mile before the sparse trees began to grow, thicker and thicker, unfortunately make the cool air that much more unpleasant. Not long after that I noticed Alice lagging behind, and when I eyed her carefully, her head drooped a bit. Poor child, this was a lot of walking for her poor feet. I bent and with a big swoop, lifted my little cousin in my arms, adjusting her jacket so that she was sheltered quite well. I kissed her head and continued to follow the red path.

1About thirty minutes later, I found myself huffing and puffing under Alice's weight and I was just about to stop for another break when, all of the sudden the road came to an end. It just stopped dead. Well, this was quite a mess I'd gotten ourselves into. I turned in circles, looking for any sign of the road reappearing. Then with a groan, my arms started to give way. I had to put Alice down before I dropped her.

"Sorry, dear," I said, gently setting her on her feet again.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I haven't the faintest idea."

All at once I heard a voice off to my left. "If you're lookin' for the road, I reckon it starts up again yonder forest."

I gave a sudden turn and saw a boy sitting atop a fence, eating an apple, and a bucket of paint at his feet. Part of the fence looked to have been just painted, while the end on which he sat was dull, brittle, and looked like it had lost its paint years ago. The boy himself appeared to be no older than twelve years of age. His hair was light brown, eyes blue, and he had the biggest black eye I'd ever seen. His clothes were tattered and covered in bits of paint, while his suspenders hung loosely at his side. He was barefoot, and next to the bucket of paint lay a straw hat.

I didn't know what to say, so I asked, "Are we still in Oz?"
The boy seemed clearly confused. "Oz? Nah. I ain't never heard of no Oz before!"

I refrained myself from correcting the boy's poor grammar and looked at Alice. Her forefinger was halfway in her mouth as she studied the boy with curious eyes.

"What's your name?" she asked shyly, half hidden behind my legs.

The boy jumped off the fence and picked up his hat. He then bowed very low, extending his hat out toward us.

"Name's Sawyer. Tom Sawyer," he said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, although I had guessed with suspicious that he'd been caught fighting and had been rewarded with a bucket of white paint and a paintbrush.

He smirked. "Some scumhead made a joke about Becky Thatcher and so I soaked 'im, but Aunt Polly found out about it and she was furious." His face turned into a scowl. "She gave me a good thrashin' and said if I wanted any supper I'd whitewash this 'ere fence and redeem myself." Tom shifted his stance to one of pride and said, "I don't care, though. I soaked 'im right good!"

"It looks more like he soaked you goo—well, I mean," I replied.

"Yeah? Well, you shoulda seen his face after I got done with 'im. He gave me a black eye, but I gave 'im two and knocked out a tooth!"

"Mommy says it's wrong to fight." piped up Alice.

Tom seemed to be taken aback by the child, but quickly composed himself with a smile.

"Yeah, well if somebody made a joke about yer mommy, wouldn't ya give 'em a good beatin'?

Alice crossed her arms defiantly. "No," she said. "I'd tell them they're a liar and to—to shut up!"

I grabbed Alice's arm and steered her to look at my face. "You wouldn't say such a thing, Alice. You'd walk away."

"Why?" asked a stubborn Alice. "They said something bad about Mommy!"

"But you shouldn't tell them to shut up. It's not polite."

"Why should she be polite when they started it?" Tom interrupted. "That's bein' a wimp!"

"Yeah!" Alice was not so shy anymore and she forced her arm out of my grasp. "They started it!"

"You," I said firmly, looking at Tom, "Stop encouraging her."

Tom put his hat on his head and folded his arms across his chest with a grunt.

"And you also," I turned my attention back to Alice. "Pipe down now. I don't want to hear any more talk about the subject."

They both went quiet, Alice sticking out her bottom lip to pout, and the silence soon became uncomfortable as I felt their eyes looking at me with stubbornness. I decided it was best to change the subject and quickly. There was a dense and dark forest that loomed ahead of us and it looked as though it stretched on for miles. There was a path that lead through it, but it was not red.

"So Tom," I said after clearing my throat, "you said the road continues on beyond this forest?"

"I said I reckon it does," he replied, arms still crossed. "But if it does I wouldn't risk findin' out."

"How come?"

Finally, his arms uncrossed and he leaned in as if he was going to share a big secret he'd held for years.

"I heard it's haunted."

Alice let out a great gasp. "You mean like g-ghosts?"

"That's right," Tom nodded.

"Oh please!" I snorted. "That's just nonsense."

"Maybe," said Tom, his mouth full of another bite of apple, "but nothing no good ever comes out of dark forests like this one."

I looked at the sea of trees once more and I did start to feel uneasy. The words 'nothing good' caught my ear especially and I immediately thought of Mirkwood. I shuddered off the sudden fear that threatened to dampen my spirits, but gave a start when I felt a tug on my jacket.

"Is it really haunted, Alayna?" asked Alice. I could hear the concern in her voice, so I waved my hand nonchalantly.

"Of course not. He's just trying to scare you."

"It looks haunted," Alice said softly, grabbing a fistful of my jacket in her hand.

"Well, it's not," I said firmly, "and to prove it we are going in there and finding that road!"

I didn't expect to go in the forest at all, but I didn't want Alice to think that her big cousin was a ninny, nor the boy for that matter. But Alice's eyes went wide and I thought I detected a trace of color drain from her face.

"W-w-what? Go in there?" She pointed to the army of trees.

I swallowed nervously but kept my composure. "Yes."

"No, don't do it!" cried Tom. "You'll get eat up by them ghosts!"

I glared at him. "If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your ghost stories to yourself, or I will personally drag you in there with us, and THEN you'll be sorry!"

The boy dropped his apple in alarm, but then stared at me with suspicious eyes.

"You wouldn't..."

"Oh, yes I would."

"You would...do that? Really?"

"Right now," I threatened.

Then to my utter surprise, Tom gave a joyful leap and clapped his hands.

"Hurray!"

Well, this wasn't the effect that I wanted.

"Wait, you want to go in there?" I felt it was time to clean out my ears, because in my opinion, the last thing anyone would want would be to go to the very place that they claimed was full of spooks.

"Well, no," Tom's face fell just the slightest, but then lit up at his next words. "But it's better than stayin' here all the day, whitewashin' the fence. Well, best be off then, huh?"

Tom started heading towards the forest but I stopped him before he could get far.

"Won't your aunt wonder where you are?"

Tom shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. But she'll get over it. She always does." He continued to walk as Alice and I looked at each other with uncertainty. "You two comin' or not!"

I sighed. "Let's go, Alice. I have a feeling this will be a long journey."

Alice also sighed, but I had the notion it was one of dread. But it didn't matter now, for we were pursuing Tom into the forest. Into the dark.

Next chapter: Are there ghosts in the forest? Some spooky activity coming up in the next chapter!

::seafarer:: Yay! My first review! I'm glad you like it and I hope you continue to do so!

1Soundtrack The Adventures of Huck Finn (Bill Conti), "Missy Finn Goes Shopping"