Nancy and the Toad Prince

Chapter 4: All Intelligent Ogres Read Nietzsche

The rain had stopped, but the day was not any brighter. In fact, a deeper gloom settled in. They crossed the bridge in silence, and the path descended into deeper, darker forest. The trees crowded close to the trail, and moss hung from the limbs and draped across the forest floor. The trail was dirt, but tree roots erupted through the ground, making it uneven and forcing Midnight and Galdur to pick their ways carefully.

They rode in silence, not because of the insistent silence that had pervaded the earlier forest, but because the air hung so heavy and close around them that it made the words seem to die in mid air. One needed to shout to be heard over the oppressive silence, and even then the words seemed to hang and drag through the air.

Nancy's heart felt heavy, weighing down her usually positive disposition. She could feel her shoulders hunching over and noticed up ahead that Midnight's head, usually held high and proud, was drooping close to the ground, and he was raising his feet barely enough to clear the roots in the path. Harold had pulled the blanket over his head and tight around his hunched over body.

The only one who seemed unaffected was Galdur, whose gray head was upright and alert and whose agile feet never stumbled or caught on roots. Nonetheless Galdur's head stayed in motion, and his ears turned at sounds Nancy couldn't hear. Galdur was not weighed down or sorrowful, but he was alert and something about this forest was clearly not to his liking.

"I wish you could talk," Nancy patted and soothed Galdur's neck, who responded with a quiet whinny and snort.

A heavy fog settled across the path, and when the riders held out their arms, their hands disappeared into the thick mist. Midnight stopped, and Galdur stopped next to him.

"I can't see a thing!" Harold yelled, but the sound was muffled, like he was talking from beneath a great pile of blankets.

Galdur shook his head and took the lead. Midnight walked close to his left rump. Nancy could see Midnight's head but could not see Harold on the horse's back.

Harold yelled something, but Nancy couldn't make out what he said.

"What?!"

Again, his voice but unintelligible.

"I can't understand you!"

Midnight moved forward again until he was right beside Galdur, Nancy and Harold's legs almost touching as the horses moved forward.

"I said, does Galdur know where he is going!?" he shouted almost in Nancy's ear.

Nancy shrugged. "What else are we going to do?! Sit in the fog and do nothing?!"

Harold thought, shrugged, and Midnight slowed until he was even once again at Galdur's back leg.

Nancy couldn't see Galdur's head, but she could see that the mane was leading downward, so apparently Galdur's head was down low, following the path.

It was impossible to gauge the passage of time in the deep fog. Every direction you looked was the same thick grayness. The fog continued to thicken and when Nancy held out her arm, it simply vanished after the elbow. Nancy looked up, expecting to see at least a slightly brighter spot where the sun would be, but there was nothing. She listened for birds or some noise of forest creatures, but there was nothing. Silence had become a thing, and it filled her ears.

You would think the sameness and the silence and the steady smooth rhythm of Galdur's walk would have lulled Nancy to sleep. The near despair at being forever lost in the fog clenched her heart, and the fear kept her wide awake.

And it went on for untold hours before the fog began to thin, although it never lifted entirely. First Nancy realized she could see Galdur's head, up where it should be and not down by the ground. After a time, she and Harold could see each other and then the trees at the edge of the path could be seen.