When a Young Heart Loves (The Secret of Moonacre Fanfiction)

A Rumble and A Trap

498, 499, 500.
"Here we are Wrolf, the five-hundredth step." Maria set her lamp on the ground and took a look around her. If her mental compass was correct, she was sure the path had taken a turn to the west. This would place us.... In the direction of the forest! Or so I think.
Maria and Wrolf had walked by two small deviations from the path, though both had been quite narrow. Maria was just able to shimmy through the stone to take a look inside the entrances. She was sure no monster, much less three thieves and a child could fit through those.

At the thought of Albert, her heart tightened. She needed to find him.

"Wrolf, we should go back and gather the girls. I have a feeling this is the path we need to go through." Maria took off on a fast walk, fueled by a sense of urgency. Wrolf silently trotted along her side. His ears were perched high over his black mane and his nose was hard at work.

The path winded back towards the east and Maria found herself back at the fork. She sat down on the cold, hard, ground and shrugged off her coat. She fanned herself and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She began formulating a plan with Wrolf.

"Wrolf, we know at least three thieves broke into our home and stole Albert. I was able to fight off one of them..." Maria's thoughts went back to her first summer in Moonacre. Despite multiple attempts, none of the De Noir boys were able to kidnap her. It wasn't until Dulac and Mr. De Noir became involved, that they were able to capture her.

"That must mean they have little experience. What do you think?"

Wrolf looked to heratnd snorted. She would take that as yes.

"I believe with us four, we can take down the thieves. Though the monster, that is another question..." Maria stood and paced the floor. "The monster is currently weakened from its travels. It must be searching for the Moon Pearls to recover its power. It only makes sense. It also seems to be hurt by fire. Though I haven't tried other methods," she said out loud.

"Maria!" called out Cat from within the other path. "You were right! We think this trail leads straight to the De Noir castle!"

"How do you know?"

"We arrived at a dead end," Jane answered. "Above us, the stone had a rooster carved into it. It may be the entrance, though we couldn't find a way to open it."

"It was similar to the one at their library doors!" Lizzy added. "We couldn't find any footprints. I believe it's safe to assume the De Noirs don't know of it!"

Maria nodded her head, "That narrows our choice. We should go down the trail I went through. It takes a sharp turn to the west, I believe it leads to the forest.. or the amphitheater. I'm not quite sure."

Cat blew out her lamp, they needed to conserve their light. The tunnels were quickly growing in number. Maria now understood why the thieves chose to hide underground. It was a large network of channels with plenty of paths to take and get lost in.

Maria hurried on towards the passageway. Wrolf and her friends followed in silence. They weren't walking for long when the stillness was broken by Lizzy's rumbling stomach.

"Excuse me!" Lizzy yelped.

"Here, we can eat as we walk," Jane winced, her stomach was churning. She passed each of the girls a few biscuits and a sandwich.

"I don't want to use up more time," Maria urged them forwards. She wasn't hungry so she gave Wrolf her sandwich and stuffed her biscuits into her bag. Her remorse muffled out any hunger she was feeling. Marmaduke was right, Maria sighed with regret. If I hadn't been so prideful, perhaps Robin and I could have mapped the cavern and its entrances long ago.