Chapter 6
The Meeting
The Great Oak Tree was only a few hours away. After they had walked for what seemed like ages, Alec pointed it out, then said, “I really need to do something.”
Abigail threw up her hands in annoyance. “Where do you keep running off to?!”
But he was already gone.
The kids sighed and turned their focus to the big tree. Big was an understatement. This oak was massive! Its branches loomed over the children.
“What are those balls of light in the tree?” Aron asked.
“They look like… acorns!” Eszter answered. Indeed, golden acorns the size of bowling balls adorned the giant branches, and they emitted a strange sort of light, a light that made you feel warm all over.
“Wow, this place is amazing,” Josiah remarked.
“But now, let’s cut back to the chase. Where’s Bobo?” questioned Hannah. “Did he forget?”
The children walked around the base of the tree, searching for something that was out of place.
Lidia was the one who found that thing. It was an ordinary sized acorn that served as a doorknob. She turned it, and a seamless door carved into the tree swung inward.
Josiah was the first to peer inside. His face lit up.
“Bobo!” he cried. The wizard smiled.
“Welcome, children,” he said warmly. The room inside of the tree was fairly small, but had enough space for them to talk comfortably.
“This is so cool!” Aron shouted.
“So, let’s get to business," the wizard said. “I have heard about this elf whose name is Aldo. He has shown a great interest in Shadow; the man formerly known as Alexander. I believe he may be able to provide you helpful information—but at a price.”
“You mean money?” asked Aron. “We’ve got tons!”
“If by tons, you mean ten cents,” said Hannah.
“Ten cents!” exclaimed Bobo. “How on Kirkwood did you manage to get that much money?!”
“Oh, yeah. We forgot to tell you that we caught the werewolf,” said Aron.
For a moment, Bobo looked amazed, but then his face fell.
“What’s wrong?” Eszter asked him. “You look so sad.”
“I’m afraid to inform you that the werewolf has escaped,” the wizard said.
“Oh, no! What happened?” the children asked.
“We’re not quite sure, but we think that someone deliberately released it.”
The children gasped.
“Who would do such a thing?” wondered Anna. “We don’t know, but most likely one of Shadow’s workers,” said Bobo.
“Oh.” The group was disappointed. They had risked their lives, and it had been all for nothing.
“But wait!” Aron cried. “Do you think it might be following us to get revenge? Since, you know, we trapped him.”
Bobo looked skeptical, but he said, “Well, you definitely should be on your guard, but not just for the werewolf. There are many dangers in this realm.”
“So,” Eszter said, trying to change the subject. “I don’t think we ever told you about our new tour guide and friend.”
“You mean Anna?” asked Bobo.
“No, his name is Alec, and-,” Abigail got cut off.
“Alec? Where?” Anna exclaimed, her face full of excitement.
Hannah elbowed her. “Umm, Anna has taken a certain liking to Alec,” she whispered.
The wizard chuckled, while Anna’s face turned as red as a ripe tomato. But Bobo quickly turned serious again. “So, about your reward money,” he said. “That should be more than enough to satisfy Aldo.”
“Where do we even find him?” Aron questioned. “Are we going to be here forever? We should get back to our real world soon.” Bobo said nothing. He took the map from Abigail and pointed at it. A large red dot appeared on the map.
“Just go here,” he instructed. “That's where Aldo lives.”
“How do we know where we are?” Aron questioned.
“Good point.” Bobo pointed at the map again, and this time, a green dot appeared. Then he handed the map back to Abigail.
“That’s where we are?” Josiah whined. “It’s so far!”
Eszter rolled her eyes. “You’ll be fine.”
“Oh, I just remembered,” Bobo exclaimed. He handed Josiah something small and shiny. It was a bullet. “I heard you sort of used yours,” he whispered with a grin.
“Thanks!” Josiah said. “I’ll take better care of this one.”
“Well, I didn’t lose my compass!” Aron exclaimed. “Here it is.” He proudly took it out .
Bobo looked at it with a surprised expression. “Did you mess with it?” he asked.
Eszter sighed. “It was probably when he and Josiah were throwing it around to each other in a silly game of baseball.”
“What’s a spacegall?” Bobo asked, confused.
“Never mind,” Eszter replied.
“Well then, how have we managed to stay on the right track?” Abigail asked.
“Don’t worry, it wasn’t broken, it’s just—how do I say this—fractured.”
“Can you fix it?” Aron asked, wringing his hands nervously. Bobo heaved a great sigh.
“You’re lucky I can.” Then, after taking the compass from Aron, he muttered a few magic words. The compass’s needle began to spin rapidly, and after a few seconds, it stopped.
“There,” Bobo said. “Oh, I almost forgot to give you these.” He pulled out two daggers and a bundle, and handed them to Eszter and Abigail. “These are little knives that can make your weaker enemies vanish if you hit them enough times,” he explained.
“Wow, thank you so much!” Eszter said gratefully. She gave Abigail the dagger with a golden blade, while her blade was silver. Eszter’s dagger had tiny emeralds and amethysts embedded in its hilt. Abigail’s had rubies and diamonds.
“Thanks!” she said again, as both she and Abigail slipped their daggers into the pockets of their costumes, which were now quite tattered and worn.
“Oh, and those are normal clothes, from this place, so you folks will blend in a bit better,” Bobo said smiling. Abigail peered into the bundle that she was holding and saw lots of tunics and pants, mostly in earthy colors.
“We can change into them at Aldo’s house!” Abigail decided. The group chatted a bit more, then Bobo grinned and said, “Off you go, and take care!”
“Wait!” Aron cried. “Yes?” Bobo asked. “I have two questions for you,” he said.
“Of course, ask away,” the wizard replied.
“Okay, first of all, you said that every day will be the exact same boring thing until we break the curse that Shadow put on all humans.”
“Correct,” Bobo replied.
“So does that mean that there will be no weekends or holidays?” Aron asked.
“Exactly. I call it the ‘Curse of Sameness’. It affects the humans of Kirkwood, too. Why do you think no one in your world acknowledged the fact that it was the weekend?”
“Of course!” Aron slapped his forehead. “And one more thing. Why did Shadow place the curse on all humans?”
“Unfortunately, that is a question you’ll have to ask Aldo, and not me. Now, I really do have to go.” With that, the wizard vanished.
Then the children started off again.
“Where did Alec go?” Anna asked almost immediately.
“Oh yeah, we can’t leave without our guide,” said Hannah.
“Well, he went that way when he ran off,” Abigail said, pointing towards the forest. The children went into the forest, looking for any sign of Alec. A twig snapped. They could see a boy standing not too far away.
“Alec!” Anna hurried to him and hugged him. The others, (mainly Aron and Josiah), snickered. Anna turned pink as she realized what she had just done.
Alec just smiled and chuckled a little.
“So, Alec,” Abigail said. “We have a change of plans. We’re going to visit a guy who knows quite a bit about Shadow, according to Bobo. His name is Aldo. Do you know him?”
“Aldo?” Alec asked, thinking. “I don’t think I know anyone named Aldo.”
“Are you sure?” Abigail asked.
“Of course he’s sure!” Anna exclaimed. “Alec would never lie! Right, Alec?”
Alec nodded confidently and said, “Of course.”
“Ugh, well, let’s just get on with it!” Aron exclaimed. He motioned for Abigail to take out the map.
“We’re supposed to go that way,” he said.
It took the group about three hours to reach their destination. When they got there, it was getting dark, and the children were extremely tired.
Aldo’s house was a little cottage, much like ones in fairy tales.
Josiah was continuously whining about his feet. He opened his mouth to say something as the group was walking up the path to the door.
“Shh!” Abigail said, before he could complain about anything. “Not one more word about your feet, Josiah! We’re here!” Josiah raced to the door, despite his feet “killing him”, and knocked. They waited. And waited.
“Josiah, knock again,” Hannah said. “Maybe he didn’t hear you.” Josiah knocked.
Alec suddenly gasped. “Oh no, I forgot my satchel back there, on the trail! Here, I’ll just go get it real quick.”
But no one heard him because Aron was talking so loudly, and they were all so frustrated.
“We walk all this way, for what? To be abandoned at a door?” Aron cried. “I just want to go home now!”
“I bet he’s not even here,” Lidia said.
“Yes Lidia, I believe we’ve established that,” Abigail said.
Aron angrily raised his fist to pound on the door as hard as he could when it slowly creaked open. A tiny man answered it. He had round glasses, elfish ears, and was wearing a pair of patchwork overalls. In his hands there were tons of papers, pens, and notebooks.
“Why, hello,” he said merrily. “What brings you folks here?”
“We’re looking for an elf named Aldo,” Abigail informed him.
“Why, that’s me!” Aldo exclaimed. “Come on in.” The group ducked under the little elf door and stared in awe of the inside of the cottage. Little vials of liquids sat on one shelf, and the home was full of maps and papers of all kinds. There were many quills and jars of ink as well. A big cauldron was bubbling with experimental substances. “So, what brings you here?” Aldo asked.
“Bobo the wizard sent us,” Eszter explained. “He told us that you are the one that knows about Shadow the most.”
The elf sighed. “That’s me, all right,” he said.
“Great!” exclaimed Abigail. “What can you tell us about him?”
“Oh, well, I have some old journals and maps and other things,” he said.
“Can we see?” asked Aron.
“Sure.” Aldo went up a staircase and soon returned with a huge stack of books and papers, all titled “Shadow.”
“I’d let you read these, but just recently I put them on sale, since it's quite unlikely that I would need them anymore. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, you have to pay me if you want to use them.”
“How much?” Hannah asked hopefully. “Uh, five cents,” said Aldo.
“Ok!” Hannah turned her pockets inside out, and pulled out a dime. “Here,” she said. Aldo took the ten cents and handed Hannah back a nickel.
“The books are now yours,” Aldo said. “If you want, you can rest here for the night.” This is exactly what the children wanted to hear.
“Thank you,” Abigail told him. Aldo was about to lead the children into their rooms, when Aron asked a question.
“I’ve been wondering about why we were the only ones who haven’t fallen under the curse.” Aldo’s eyes widened.
“So you’re the chosen ones,” he whispered.
“Do you, by any chance, know the wizard Bobo?” Aldo asked, but before the kids could answer he said, “Oh, well of course they know Bobo if they are the chosen ones…” Aron’s stomach growled loudly.
“Can we eat?”
Minutes later, the group was at Aldo’s dining table.
“You never answered Aron’s question,” Hannah stated, her mouth full of food.
“Oh, of course!” Aldo slapped his forehead. “Well, legend says that if Shadow ever places a curse, the chosen ones and their close siblings will be the only ones unaffected by it,” he said.
“Why?” asked Anna.
“That’s because Bobo placed a spell long ago to protect a small group of children from the curse, enabling them to save the day,” said Aldo.
“But then, how is Anna a chosen one?” Eszter asked.
“Bobo didn’t decide who would become a Chosen One and who wouldn’t,” Aldo answered. “She, just like all of you, was picked randomly. That’s all there is to it. Anna, do you have any close family? Any siblings?”
Anna shook her head.
Aron raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
“How would you know all that, Aldo?” he asked.
“Why, I studied all things Shadow for most of my life! If anyone, I would know. I even used to be best friends with him, back when he was just Alexander…” Aldo’s eyes became misty. Aron looked satisfied with his answer.
“Well, why can’t Bobo just save the day with one of his crazy spells?” Lidia asked. Aldo pondered the question. “Bobo is not a very powerful wizard anymore, not after Shadow took the gems from him. Why, poor Bobo doesn’t even dare to touch the gem that he managed to get back, for fear of letting it get into the wrong hands. He is also a bit too old for crawling into a booby trapped lair,” he explained.
“B-booby trapped?" Hannah squeaked.
“Oh, yes, just take a look at my journals," Aldo said. “Luckily for you, I have most of the traps marked off. But you still need to be careful. Anyway, back to the question. All of Bobo’s spells have failed, or worked halfway regarding Shadow.”
“Okay,” said Lidia.
“One more thing. Bobo told us that you would know why exactly Shadow placed the curse,” Eszter said.
Aldo sighed and said, “I do know. It’s because of Shadow’s hard past. After he went bad, he wanted to make sure that anyone who had ever been unkind to him paid for what they had done. Many of the cruel people that had bullied or teased him for his red eyes were humans. Because of this, he wanted revenge on all of humankind. So he placed the curse to make the lives of all humans on Earth and Kirkwood boring and dull.”
“Oh,” was all Aron said. After a long moment of silence, Aldo clapped his hands together and said, “It’s late. I think we all should be in bed by now.”
“Can we change into the clothes Bobo gave us?” Eszter asked, fidgeting with the pages of her long-forgotten diary.
“Sure,” Aldo replied. He led to the bathroom, and one by one, the children got changed. Everyone also took a very much needed shower, possibly the last one for ages.
After that, Aldo showed them to their room, which was huge and filled with beds. It could house plenty of guests. The walls were wooden, like the rest of the cottage, and each bed was unique. The sheets had different designs, but were all focused on forest themes. Some beds had headboards, others didn’t. Each headboard was different too. The whole house was filled with a lovely woody smell.
“I claim the bed next to Alec!” Anna called, but she quickly clapped her hands over her mouth when she realized what she had said. To her relief, nobody snickered or teased her.
The room was dead silent.
Everyone was realizing something.
“Wait a second…” Aron finally said. “Where is Alec?”
