Chapter 19
They reached the cabin around four o'clock in the afternoon. It was very deep in the woods and Elphaba wondered if the spell that supposedly wiped the minds of travelers who stumbled upon it, only worked when they crossed the magical border back in the direction they had come. Carefully, she used her broom to dismount Avantador and then walked up to the carriage.
"Fiyero, perhaps you and your trusty rifle should help me scout the house out before we loosen the bonds on your mother?" Elphaba suggested. Her husband climbed down, rifle in hand.
"Glinda had to knock her back out a few times. Are we sure she won't have brain trauma?" He asked.
"I'm not sure of anything right now but I promise we'll take a look at her once we're sure it's safe to be inside the cabin, she grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze.
"All right, let's do it," Fiyero nodded and the two moved toward the cabin. They quickly made a sweep of the outside. It looked as though it was only a two room cabin and it had begun that slow decay most abandoned buildings go through on their way out.
"I'm afraid to touch anything. The windows in the back are all cracked and they aren't covered with curtains. The floors look like they would fall through if someone stepped on them," Elphaba shook her head as they met up back out front of the building.
"Where is my father?" Fiyero asked.
"I have a bad feeling Yero," she didn't want to say it out loud but from all indications the King had vanished off the face of the planet. Usually when that happens, someone is either really good at hiding or someone else had a hand in their untimely disappearance, and not in a good way.
"If the Wizard did anything to him…" He started.
"You have my permission to hurt him but let's hold off until we carefully search the inside of the cabin," Elphaba told him. He nodded and they carefully tried the doorknob on the only door in the place. Surprisingly the door swung open easily, as if someone had just oiled the hinges. Fiyero picked up an acorn from outside the door and rolled it onto the floor. It did not fall through and cautiously, he moved into the first room. The floor boards creaked but did not give and Elphaba carefully followed directly behind him.
The first room held the stove, some cupboards, a wash basin, and a table with chairs. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs and it was obvious that no one had been living in the building, which was odd considering what the Wizard had said.
"Maybe once we broke the spell on Mother, it broke the spell on the house," Fiyero suggested, seemingly knowing what Elphaba was thinking.
"Could be," she said thoughtfully. They then moved into the bedroom. The bed was in bad shape but other than that the floor seemed to hold. They both exited and decided that they had better get Glinda and the Queen (via bubble) inside. Quickly they got to work and got their little group together under the roof which they all hoped would keep the weather out.
"All right, now you can release her from the bubble," Elphaba told Glinda. The blonde nodded and made the bubble disappear. They all expected her to lunge at them like she had before but she just stood there. She blinked a few times and then looked at them.
"Where am I? Who are you people?" She asked.
"Oh boy," Glinda shook her head.
To Be Continued…