The Wrong Direction

Chapter Forty

Adriana

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Niall's muscles stiffened.  He froze and looked around, staring at the swaying branches of the trees around us.  I watched his blue gaze drift onwards toward the endless horizon.  Our view was magnificent - we could see miles upon miles of endless trees.  I turned my head and looked in the opposite direction, scanning the immediate area for the source of the searing smoke.  I knew the smell couldn't be coming from camp.  We were too far away for the smell of our campfire to reach us.

Clouds of gray smoke hung in the air in the distance.  I watched it rise further and further into the sky.  I tapped Niall's shoulder multiple times, my movements rising in urgency.  He turned his head to look at me, a crease forming between his light eyebrows.  My shaky finger rose and pointed at the growing cloud of smoke in the sky.  Flames were peaking over the tree tops, engulfing any vegetation in its path.

"Where is the fire coming from?" I asked in a quiet murmur.  I was dazed as I watched the fiery wisps of flames snake up the trees.

Niall didn't say anything for several moments.  I thought he didn't have any clue, but he looked down at me and said with alarm in his dazzling blue eyes, "I think it's coming from Larr's clearing.  It's in the same area, and we did see him dancing around a small fire earlier."

Everything slowly made sense.  Niall's theory sounded perfectly logical.  I could easily see Larr setting the whole forest ablaze.  He has no boundaries, and his life is so pathetic that he wouldn't have much to lose.

"We need to get back to camp and warn the others," I said, a sense of urgency taking over me.  I pushed myself to my feet and started to pace back and forth.  "That fire is travelling fast.  We need to hurry."  I looked at Niall to see him frozen in place, still sitting on his blanket.  A blank look was on his face.  I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"I agree," Niall said after several long, nerve-wracking seconds.  His gaze met mine.  There was calmness radiating in his eyes, as if he was coaxing me to relax.  "Calm down, Adriana.  Everything will be all right."

I wasn't as optimistic as Niall about the situation, but I wasn't going to argue - I was hoping his words would convince me that he was right, but deep down I wasn't so sure.  "Yeah, o-of course," I stammered, nodding my head repeatedly.  My hands felt shaky as I tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear.

I watched Niall climb to his feet and grab his guitar.  “Come on,” he said.  “We need to get back to camp.”

Niall and I walked down the steep hill where we had been relaxing.  Once we reached level ground, we started to run.  We didn’t know how much time we would have to get back to camp and warn the others about the oncoming fire.

Not even five minutes later, our paces slowed as we approached a figure crouched ahead of us, their back facing us.  My eyes widened as I took in the sight in front of me.

"Hey kiddos!" Larr exclaimed, spinning around on his heels.  All I managed to do was stare at him in shock.  My eyes trailed down, examining his horrible outfit.  He was wearing an old, ratty plaid shirt.  Its bright red color stood out against his pale, wrinkly skin.  He was wearing ridiculous "farmer" overalls over his shirt, a straw hat on his bald head.  "Miss me much?  Me haven't seen ya two in a while."

"Heh heh, yeah, it sure has been a while," I replied.  My palms started to get clammy.  I glanced at Niall, silently praying he had some idea of how to get around Larr.

That's when it happened.  One of Larr's hands was hidden behind his back.  He pulled it out into our eyesight, brandishing a treacherous torch.  Flames were rippling in the air from the stick.  Larr smirked at our scared reactions.  Evil cackling erupted from his red lipstick-coated lips.  I could see that Larr was experimenting with his make-up.  Besides the hideous shade of color on his mouth, glitter was coated on his cheeks, and his eyelids showed off a dramatic smoky eye.  That man should never go into cosmetics.