Chapter Four
I sat by the stream, trying to find the courage to keep going. I had to find out more about the curse. Then there was the crazy guy at the park. As awful as those enchanted trees and bears had been, I didn’t think they were what had caused that man to go insane. That worried me. Holly and I were lucky to be alive, and I wasn’t sure if I could handle what else might be lurking in the forest. Still, I knew I had to get up and figure out what to do next.
“Come on,” I said, getting to my feet and tossing the rock I’d been playing with into the stream. “There has to be another way out of the forest.”
Holly’s eyes were glassy, and the corners of her mouth twitched like she was about to cry. But she got up and followed me down the path.
After walking for about five minutes, Holly started squirming, almost like she was doing some sort of dance. She bounced up and down with her knees bent inward.
“What are you doing?” I stopped walking and stared at Holly’s awkward movements.
She crossed one leg over the other and crouched down to the ground. “I can’t walk anymore. I really have to go to the bathroom!”
“Ugh!” I rolled my eyes and threw my hands in the air. “Why didn’t you go before we left?”
“I didn’t have to go then. Besides I didn’t want to waste time.” Holly’s face turned bright red. She was holding her breath.
“Stop it! You have to breathe,” I said, unable to keep from sounding annoyed. “Go behind those bushes over there.”
Holly started to stand up but stopped about halfway. Hunched over, she hobbled behind the bushes. A few moments later, she came out waddling bowlegged.
“Now what are you doing?”
“I wasn’t about to use leaves. Thanks to the curse, they’d probably be poisonous!”
“Whatever, let’s keep moving.” I started walking. I tried not to look at Holly because it was difficult not to laugh, and I didn’t want to encourage her behavior.
“Mom should be getting home soon,” Holly said, glancing at her watch. “We’ll never make it back in ti—ahh!” Holly tripped over a large rock and stumbled to the ground. It happened so quickly I didn’t have time to react.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I landed funny on my ankle.” She tried to flex her foot, but it barely moved before she stopped. “Ouch, it really hurts,” she said, rubbing her ankle with one hand and pulling leaves out of her hair with the other.
“Here, I’ll help you up.” I pulled her to her feet, but she fell forward on me in pain.
“I can’t stand on it.” Holly’s eyes filled with tears.
I hunched down so I was Holly’s height. “Put your arm over my shoulder and lean on me like a crutch. That way you don’t have to put any pressure on your ankle when you walk.”
“I’m sorry,” Holly said, leaning on me. “Why is it always me getting hurt?”
I laughed. “Look at the bright side. Thanks to the curse, the clumsiness isn’t entirely your fault.”
“Thanks a lot, big brother,” Holly said with a sarcastic smirk. I smiled. I liked it when Holly called me big brother, even though I’m only a year older than she is. Exactly a year. She was born on my first birthday.
After walking about ten feet, Holly cringed in pain. Tears streamed down her face. Her injury wasn’t that bad, and I figured her crying had more to do with being scared than with the pain in her ankle.
“Are you all right?” I tried to sound sympathetic because I needed her to calm down. Otherwise, we’d never get out of these woods.
“I need to rest for a minute.”
“There’s a cave up there. Do you think you can make it?”
“I guess so,” she whimpered.
I helped Holly to the cave, and she sighed as she sat down on the dirt. “Much better,” she said. She folded her sock down and checked her ankle for bruises. There weren’t any.
Her injury didn’t look bad at all, so I decided I should check out the trail while she rested. “I’m going to scout out the path up ahead. Will you be all right on your own for a few minutes?”
“I’ll be fine. I just wish we still had our granola bars. I’m starving.”
I was hungry, too, but I was trying not to think about it. “I’ll be right back.”
The path looked clear, but a vulture circled above me. After a few turns, it stopped circling and flew off to join a group of its friends nearby. I turned around and ran back to the cave. I kept glancing at the sky to make sure the flock hadn’t followed me. After several feet, I saw no sign of the vultures. Instead, I heard a low, rumbling growl.
I stopped dead in my tracks. A large gray wolf stood between me and the cave. I’d never seen a wolf up close, but I knew this one wasn’t like any other wolf on the planet. It looked like a giant boulder, which could only mean one thing—Holly had struck again! The stone hair on the wolf’s back stuck straight up as it slowly stalked its way toward Holly, who was backed up against the wall of the cave.
“P—Please, don’t hurt me,” Holly stammered. Her eyes met the wolf’s, and it growled even louder.
I’d heard staring animals in the eyes could make them attack. “Don’t make eye contact. It will think you’re challenging it,” I whispered. I didn’t want to spook the wolf, but I had to do something to help Holly.
The wolf swung his head around to look at me, and I jumped at the sight of its huge stone fangs. I was a little relieved when it turned back toward Holly.
The wolf twitched its nose and hungrily snapped its teeth together. I inched closer to the cave, trying to get to Holly.
“What do we do?” she whispered.
I surveyed the woods, searching for anything that could be used as a weapon, but there was nothing in sight—at least nothing strong enough to break stone. I was beginning to really panic when I turned back toward the cave and saw a pair of mossy green eyes behind Holly. Another stone wolf slowly inched toward her, snarling and bearing its sharp teeth.
“Don’t move,” I whispered as calmly as possible, but the look on my face must have said it all because Holly whipped her head around to see what I was staring at.
She screamed. She was completely defenseless, and there was nothing I could do to help.
“What do I do?” She didn’t have to wait for an answer. The wolf inside the cave lunged. Holly raised her arms to shield her head and threw herself on the ground. I thought she was a goner. It took me a few seconds to realize that the wolf hadn’t lunged at Holly. It was attacking the other wolf at the entrance to the cave. Chunks of rock flew through the air as the two stone wolves collided.
“They’re fighting!” I yelled. “We have to get out of here!”
Holly sprang to her feet and ran out of the cave, despite her sore ankle. I grabbed her arm and pulled her along, trying to make her run faster. We sprinted to the next fork in the path, and once again, I chose the path on the left. We were far enough away from the two wolves, so we stopped to catch our breath.
“Where did those things come from?” I was accusing more than asking.
Holly covered her face with her hands. “I’m sorry. I fell asleep, and I had a nightmare. Obviously, it was about wolves, and well, you know I talk in my sleep.”
“I can’t believe you fell asleep in this place, with all the scary things around!” Holly was on the verge of tears. I had to calm down before I sent her into hysterics. I took a deep breath. “Sorry. We’re both under a lot of stress thanks to this forest and the curse and whatever else Mom and Dad are hiding from us. It’s not your fault.”
Holly squeezed her eyes shut, and I put my hand on her shoulder to let her know I wasn’t mad. Scared was more like it.