A Tale of Hullabaloo by Dawson Brown

Author:Dawson Brown [Brown, Dawson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-25T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

NINE

_________

As Charlie got to her feet, the circle of hedge-people simultaneously took a step back. Arjay looked at Tabnar, who nodded back, before kneeling down in front of her.

“Young one,” he said slowly, as if talking to a five-year-old, “we would like to bring you before the rulers of the Mazes, if you wouldn’t mind. They wish to speak with you.”

“What did I do?” was the first thing out of her mouth; had they broken the law by going through the hills? Were they in trouble?

Arjay shook his head. “You aren’t in any trouble, young one – don’t worry. We would just like to learn who you are, and why you have come.” His voice was reassuring, but the voices of his fellows were not. They still had not stopped whispering to themselves.

“It’s all right, Charlie,” Tabnar said, taking a step towards her. “We will have to stay the night here. It’s not safe to traverse the canyon or around Razzmatazz after sundown, and we wouldn’t be able to reach them before then.”

Charlie bit her tongue. The sun had started its westerly descent, meaning that time was already short before Meg would arrive. She wanted to keep going, to save Georgia from spending any more time in what she pictured to be a rank, cramped prison cell, but there was no telling what dangers lay before them. “Okay,” she said resignedly. “Shall we be off, then?”

“Yes, we shall!” said Arjay, parting the crowd of his fellows. Behind them, what Charlie had taken to be a line of trees was actually a huge green wall; even the hedge-people looked small compared to it. From the looks of it, it stretched as far to the left and right as C2harlie could see, making for quite the imposing sight. There didn’t seem to be any kind of opening, but by now Charlie knew better. Sure enough, Arjay ran his hand along the wall face until he found what he was looking for, gave a quick “Ah!” and made a yanking motion. In his grasp was a large wooden lever that had been concealed within the wall; by the rustling sounds it made as he did so, Charlie realized that the structure was indeed a hedge, but not just any hedge – a giant one, suited for these giant people.

“There wouldn’t happen to be any spiders in here, would there?” she asked, her mind racing. “Or evil thorns?”

“Evil thorns?” replied Arjay incredulously, tilting his head sideways and nearly losing his crown. “Thorns are amongst the kindest of beings, young one. I’d hate to see where you come from, or what made you think so poorly of them.”

The wall then began to move, its perfectly trimmed leaves and branches receding back into themselves until a good-sized gap had been created in front of Arjay. Two hedge-people with flowers of bright orange stood at attention behind it, and their hats were tall and round, like band hats. They looked over the assembled crowd, coming to settle on Arjay, Tabnar and Charlie.

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