Witch of the Wild Woods

Chapter 12 - Another Man's Done Gone

Chapter 12 - Another Man's Done Gone

They'd gathered on the gravel-laden cul-de-sac in front of the Great Lodge and the old Iron Bell. Lane kept replaying the lyrics to the ominous song engraved on its face. Having mostly ignored Brad, the councilors stood confused by what sat before them; a large pile of thick rope about an inch and a half thick, forty feet long, and a sealed manila envelope lay on top of the pile.

"Well," Brad chided, "Get going. Y'all are on the clock!"

"Okay sure, but..." Julia asked, "What exactly are we supposed to do?"

"Did none of you pay any attention at breakfast?" Brad huffed out. He began to pace along the gravel driveway, holding a stopwatch in one hand and a wooden placard sign in the other. Vegas shouted, "You all see this sign? You see the watch? You have two hours to solve this obstacle course. After the first two hours, every thirty minutes after that," He jabbed a finger at the sign, "We take away a course of your dinner tonight. So, if I were you, maybe find a Clue before you lose your dinner--"

Jordan stepped forward, snatched the tan envelope off the rope pile, and tore it open. Lane studied her face as she silently read the letter that she'd pulled out. Her countenance swiftly contorted from sorrow to rage. The wild redhead girl discarded the envelope and marched up to Brad, fists cocked and ready to fly.

"You think what happened was funny? You think its a joke! You think it's fair use for your stupid obstacle course? The fuck is wrong with you?" Jordan threw her first punch as unbridled hatred dripped off her every word and landed at Brad's feet.

Brad easily evaded Jordan's fist, still smiling, "I don't know what you're talking about. That's a riddle, there's your team. You wanna lead 'em? Feed 'em? Keep 'em all happy? Then start leading and stop making other people responsible for your emotions."

Jordan threw a second punch.

It didn't land.

She gathered her breath, still starring Brad down, but the buzz-cut-blonde stood in her path without a care in the world. As the tension continued to rise, Brad simply held up his stopwatch and subtly swung it back and forth.

"Grab the rope," Jordan hollered out. She spun around to address the stunned councilors. More forcefully than her first command, Jordan repeated, "Everyone grab hold of the rope, follow me up to the High..." She bit back a lump in her throat, "We're going to the Low Ropes course. Move!"

Trying to get any number of twenty-something-year-olds to do anything in a coordinated fashion is no easy task. Having all fourteen, sleep-deprived councilors march single file uphill in an eighty-degree dry heat before noon proved to be a monumental task. They groaned. They muttered their dissent. Jordan at the head of the line ignored all of it. At least, it appeared that way. Whatever Brad had done to trigger her into such furor, motivated her to single-handedly pull the thirteen councilors forward at a breakneck pace.

"So, like what else have you two seen?" Nina asked Luna. For the last half hour, she'd been pelting Luna with questions about The Twins' past adventures. Lane's sister was more than happy to recite the many tales with the same flair and enthusiasm as if she'd recalled and performed the memories for the first time. This of course was all old hat; a well rehearsed but not wholly unwelcome show.

"I mean, it'd be quicker to tell you what we haven't encountered," Luna claimed with a smirk. "Aliens... Don't think we've had aliens on the list, yet. Lane thinks he saw a Kraken--"

"I was wrong. It was a giant squid. I wanted to see a Kraken. My apologies for the millionth time," Lane corrected sheepishly as he marched onward after Aiden. "If you don't mind, Nina, can I ask about what you may have seen last night?"