The Adventure of the Magic Chia Plant

Chapter 15: The String and the Labyrinth

Brent and Bethie followed the footsteps on the sand at a brisk walk, mindful of the sun that was nearing its peak in the sky.  It was becoming very hot, and Brent was afraid that they would soon both suffer from sunburns, so he was keen to get into the shade of the forest as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, Bethie couldn't walk very fast, or at least, not as fast as him, so he told her to carry her knapsack on top of her head to shade her face.  He did the same with his knapsack, wishing they'd thought to bring hats or an umbrella. Sweat ran down their necks and soaked their shirts.  Unbeknownst to Brent, the gauze bandage on his lower back loosened and eventually fell off, dropping unnoticed onto the beach.  

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the part of the forest where the footsteps led.  Brent looked uneasily at the trees that coiled and twisted against each other, their spiky leaves looking sharp enough to draw blood at the slightest contact.  He had no idea how Bench had entered the forest, but he remembered that there had been originally two sets of footsteps, not one.  Of course, the other set had eventually disappeared, but Brent didn't believe for a moment that whoever it was who had led his brother away had simply vanished.  It was more likely that the stranger had exerted some kind of magic that had allowed Bench to enter the forest unscathed. 

"What are we going to do now?" Beth asked, looking doubtfully around her.  Even with her small frame, she wouldn't be able to fit into the spaces between the trees.  

"Let's hope our torches work," Brent muttered.  Taking out his torch, he soaked the cloth thoroughly with his alcohol sanitizer spray, then took out a match.  "Here goes nothing." He struck the match against the nearest tree trunk, and it ignited.  He touched the flaming match against the head of the torch, and it instantly caught fire. 

"Take hold of my shirt and don't let go," he instructed his sister.  Beth immediately clutched the back of his shirt.  Brent ventured forward slowly, waving his flaming torch in front of him.  As he expected, the trees immediately shied away from the warmth and the light, reluctantly yielding on either side until a narrow path was formed.  

"How will we find our way out?" Beth asked just as he was about to walk forward into the unknown.  

Brent stopped in his tracks, stumped.  Beth was right.  There was no sense charging in after Bench if they were just going to get lost, anyway.  

"Hey, remember that story about that Greek guy who went into a maze with a piece of string--"

"Theseus and the Minotaur!" Brent interrupted, marveling yet again at his sister's ingenuity.  "Great idea, Beth!"

"Do we have a string?"

"We have something even better."

Brent dug in his backpack and came up with the paracord bracelet with the attached compass that he remembered seeing earlier.  He unraveled the bracelet and came up with an inordinately long, narrow rope that seemed much longer than he would have expected.  

"Wow, that's long!" Beth commented.  

"Yeah.  It doesn't seem possible..." Brent trailed off as he remembered that they were in another world, which wasn't possible either.  At least,  a lot of the impossible things were in their favor.

"Never mind," he said.  He tied one end of the rope to the nearest tree branch and made sure that it was knotted tightly.  He tied the other end to Beth's wrist.  

"Now, no matter what happens, you follow this rope back to this beach, you hear?" Brent told her sternly.  "If you and I get separated, light your torch the way you saw me do just now, and follow the rope.  Okay?"

"But what about you?" Beth asked plaintively.

"I'll find my own way back," Brent said bravely. "Don't worry about me.  Do you promise to do as I say?"

Beth frowned, but she knew that they wouldn't proceed any further until she agreed. "I promise." But she crossed her fingers behind her back.  

"Okay, then." Brent held up the compass.  "Now remember, we're going East. So if you follow the rope, you should head West, toward the setting sun.  Say it out loud for me."

"If I get lost, I should head West, toward the setting sun," Beth parroted obediently.  

"Good. Are you ready now?"

Beth took a firmer grip on her brother's hem.  "Ready."

Torch in hand, Brent plunged into the forest with his sister right behind him.