Next morning Lawrence woke feeling a little better and more confident. A good night’s sleep can often work wonders. Stepping into the warming morning sun he remembered something dad used to say when faced with a large problem. The trick was to try and break it down in to smaller pieces. That way it wouldn’t seem anywhere near as scary. After all, even the most experienced climber doesn’t scale a dangerous mountain without proper planning.
Strong sunlight lit broken branches propping up the house’s round walls, which were sealed with a smelly mix of dried mud, grass and manure. This made them windproof and kept out germs, which was a very sensible precaution. Doctors weren’t very good at treating infections back then. In these days a person may die of a simple cold or even a tiny cut that wasn’t attended to properly. That meant Lawrence would have to be extra careful also.
Jack’s family trooped out behind Lawrence and Lucy, announcing they were off to search for berries on the other side of the hills. Jack promised to ask everyone he met about Gretchen. Maybe someone would remember some tiny detail that could be used to track her.
Lawrence and Lucy sat thinking for a bit in the hot sun. Their first step was to find out where Gretchen lived, form a plan, find and destroy her treasured item of power where she stored her magic and rescue Willow and any others. Next they would need to find out how to reverse Brandice’s time spell or another way to return to their own time, perhaps by draining her power in some way. Whatever happened, it certainly wasn’t going to be easy!
Lawrence decided to try the castle market for clues. There he could chat to people and see if anything was worth trading for. Jack told him it was held just outside the castle gates in a long penned off area. This was so rich folk didn’t have to mix with villagers unless they chose to.
Following a stiff walk up the steep hill, Lawrence wandered through the bustling market. With Lucy perched proudly on his shoulder he drew quite a few admiring glances. There were so many wonderful smells, and plenty of goods, but none which would help them.
Near the exit a group of brightly dressed pipers all competed for the same coin from rich folk soaking up the happy atmosphere. As Lawrence and Lucy left a mysterious lady eyed them curiously from high up the castles tower. For the rest of the afternoon the two friends kindly helped villagers tidy up the frightful mess Gretchen had selfishly left.
That night Lawrence suffered a terrible nightmare, finding himself in a strange, dark room lying on the ground, unable to move. Somewhere in the darkness a giant creature slithered towards him, hissing and coughing up pools of moving slime. Lucy had been trapped in a tiny cage nearby and was crying miserably. Suddenly Brandice May towered over him and wouldn’t let him speak or escape.
“You ruined my cauldron!” she screeched, dropping burning liquid on his hair. Her long bony fingers poked him constantly, pushing him into the soft floor. When he fell right through the ground, the disturbing scene started all over again. After dozens of times Lawrence woke sweating. They had to hurry, angry Brandice was on the way!