Unanimous

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Gail wished with all her heart for some deodorant, because she was sweating bullets like never before. It was already past noon and her friends could arrive any minute now.

You would think such a thought would make her ecstatic, but the fact that Jorah had disappeared was bothering her to no end. Not only was she very worried about him, but the plan was also completely ruined.

Gail casted her mind back to when Jorah had explained the plan to her. She had to distract Kobe, while he would...uhm...he would... Gail closed her eyes in concentration. Open the door! Yeah, that was it, Gail thought enthusiastically. He would open the door and bring the others to the place where all those poor creatures were locked up.

She couldn't do the latter, seeing how she had no idea where that place was herself, but she could make sure that her friends got in without experiencing any problem.

Determined to prove herself, Gail jumped off the kitchen counter and ran out the door towards the entrance hall.

Kobe must really think highly of himself, given that he hadn't even bothered to remove the key out of the key hole. Had he really been so sure that Gail wouldn't dare to escape?

Gail felt stupid. She could have easily left the castle this whole time, yet hadn't even thought about it.

Shaking off those thoughts she grabbed the rusty key in her tiny hand and turned it around in its lock. The silent click she heard confirmed that the front door had been opened.

"Gail!"

Immediately Gail's heart started beating like crazy.

She swirled around to face the angry-looking Kobe.

--

The mood had noticeably lightened after Emmie had assured the younglings that Kenneth and Gail were in good health and that they both were safe. The younglings would also be seeing them back today; something they had longed for, for so long now, that the joy they felt was indescribable. Amandine had even caught Matthieu smiling, something that rarely ever happened.

Suddenly thinking off something, Amandine went to walk next to Emmie and Kevin, who had once again been quietly conversing.

"Can I ask you something?" Amandine asked carefully, not feeling totally at ease with the two strangers.

Emmie smiled endearingly and said: "Of course, you can."

"Do you perhaps know what Time Silva means? It was written on a wooden placard that stood in front of the forest."

It didn't seem like it rang a bell, but they both started trying to solve it nevertheless.

"It's obviously Latin," Kevin said to Emmie," So we should be able to translate it."

"Silva, doesn't that mean forest? It would make sense if it did."

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, I thought so too."

Amandine listened admiringly how they were throwing around all kind of words in Latin she didn't understand.

"Time could be an ablative. I mean, it does have the identification letter 'e'," Emmie suggested.

"Yeah, it could be, but then-"

Kevin suddenly gasped.

"I've got it! Time is no noun, but a verb! It's an imperative!"

"So, what does it mean?" Amandine asked.

Kevin frowned.

"It means 'fear the forest'," he said, his voice thoughtful.