Within the Pages

Chapter 14

I wake up in the morning to find my dad's bed empty and his stuff, gone. I bolt up from my bed and having still worn the clothes from yesterday, I am ready to go. I hurry to the door, open it and knock on Goldilocks door.

"Goldilocks? Are you awake? My dad left without telling me" I call out loudly enough for her to hear if she is awake but not loud enough to wake her. The door opens and Goldilocks comes out.

"Let's go" she says.

We hurry out of the Inn and go ask directions to where the stable is. We brush past crowds and hurry to the stable where we see two of the guards who were at the gate yesterday standing guard of the horses. We make our way to them and hand both the guards a two gold coins each as payment for the horses and we ride off, having very little trouble learning how to ride the horse because we saw how Arthur handled the horse on the way to Camelot. We are just past the gate when we realize we have no idea where we are going. We turn back and ask the guards if they know where Morgana is hiding.

"Are you kidding? I'm not telling two kids where the most powerful sorceress in the world is, no way."

Just as one of the guards says that Merlin comes out of Camelot.

"follow the trail to the right for a decent distance until it comes to split into three paths. Choose the right path and then after a while you will be to the right of her castle. Go through the cave in the mountain in which her castle sits and you will find your mother."

"Thank you Merlin, Let's go Goldilocks" I say as I turn my horse back around and take the path on the right heading toward the dangerous Morgana's castle.

Merlin turns back into the castle and tells the two guards from the stables to follow them closely but not to be seen and the guards mount their horses and head after the two kids.

As we ride farther and farther from Camelot, I get more and more nervous and cautious. What am I thinking riding toward the most powerful sorceress in this realm? No, I shouldn't be thinking like this. I'm going to save my parents because I will not not lose them again. I don't know how I will actually save them but I will think of something; I have to try.

In about an hour we reach the part of the trail where the path splits into three paths. Following Merlin's advice, I head onto the path on the right. We follow the path until we get to the cave in the mountain. Getting off and tying the horses to a tree, Goldilocks and I head into the cave grabbing torches from old hooks stuck into the mountain wall. We walk slowly and carefully along the inside of the cave surveying our surroundings. Screams echo out in the cave, screams that I believe come from my father so we quicken our pace a little bit trying to make as little noise as possible although I keep thinking; If my dad can't save my mom, how will I?

"Charlie look out" Goldilocks says abruptly loud enough that I can hear it but quite enough so that no one else can. As she is calling out the warning a guard leaps out of the shadows and pushes us into the cave wall pinning us to it.

"Nobody tries to sneak into my lady Morgana's castle" He yells at us pushing us against the wall harder and harder squishing us to the wall trying to kill us.