The Spy's Door by Maidie Reeve

Author:Maidie Reeve
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2018-08-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Under the Oak Tree

The game path, bathed in warm sunshine, continued to weave its way through fields of wheat, and then corn. Although the crops looked ready to harvest, there was no sign of any farming activity. Nearly all of the elves had left to join Eda.

“I can see some trees up ahead,” Jun observed. “It must be the oak wood.”

“Let’s hope the challenge at The Seventh Gateway is easy, and that the next world is safe. I’d like to get through it as fast as possible,” Sophie said. “If Aisha and Basil are imprisoned in Malefic’s fortress, they must be really scared, and worried about how we’re going to rescue them.”

The corn fields soon gave way to a wood of large oaks. The path was over-shadowed by the ancient trees, whose thick canopies of leaves rustled softly against each other. Sunlight flickered through the leaves, but the air was cool. Several squirrels followed the children. They scampered alongside the pathway, darting in and out of the undergrowth. Overhead, tiny sparrows flew amongst the trees, chirping loudly.

“Hey! Look! There he is again,” Jun exclaimed, pointing at an oak up ahead. “It’s the spy! He’s moving pretty fast.”

Sophie, still leading a docile Twig, glimpsed the back of a small figure dressed in a dark hooded cloak as it disappeared behind a large tree trunk.

“I think you’re right. He’s still tracking our every move. Malefic probably already knows that his spell didn’t work, and that Twig failed to make us to leave the path. I only hope that Malefic’s not waiting for us on the other side of The Seventh Gateway, like he did last time.”

“Me too,” Jun replied. “He must know that Eda’s calling all the good folk together, and that she’s preparing to fight him again. And I can’t believe that he doesn’t have a plan to take The Book from us. He can’t get through The Tenth Gateway without it. We must be extra careful.”

Whilst they were chatting, Sophie, Jun, and Twig, had entered a small glade encircled by a ring of ancient oaks. In the middle of the glade was a giant oak tree. Its huge trunk was gnarled with age, and large knobby roots spread out from its base like long fingers. Although the tree’s broad canopy cast a shadow over the entire clearing, surprisingly, the glade felt friendly and welcoming, instead of threatening.

The red brick pathway led straight to the large trunk of the majestic tree, and there it stopped.

Sophie let go of Twig’s hand, and he stood there, staring blankly ahead. The group of squirrels, now silent, sat nearby and watched the children.

“This must be The Oak Glade,” Sophie said as she looked around. “But it’s a lot different from the glade we were in last time. Do you remember Jun? We had to stand in the middle of a circle of stones and use Eda’s magic to help us get through an invisible gateway. But I can’t see any stones now, or anything that looks like a gate.

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