Screw It, Let's Be Magic

Chapter seven

It took us about twenty minutes to get to a travel guide's station, and snitch a map. Sam was able to talk to the guide while fennec grabbed a brochure, and ran. I doubt the guide ever realized he was missing one.

"So, where do you say this 'door' is? I know this town well enough to get you there as long as you've got a location." Sam asked while leading us down the street. Kaliah motioned for her to give her the map, and then looked it over.

"It's going to be somewhere in the woods or something, somewhere no one would be." She stared at the map, brows furrowed.
"Oh, so like the old cave structures near the falls?" Sam blew a bubble with her gum, and pulled a package out of her pink shorts. "Want some?" She gestured to me.
"Um, no thanks."

"So, about these falls," said Kaliah as she grabbed a stick of Sam's gum. "Where would we happen to find the caves?" Sam looked a little miffed about the gum, ("she could have asked!" She later said) but responded.

"They're about a quarter mile south of the falls. My friends and I used to take bets on who could stay in the dark ones the longest, but we never made it for more than about seven minutes."
"Then that's probably where it is." She said, popping the gum into her mouth. "Hm. Pineapple." She motioned for us to follow her, and I turned around to see Adrian playing with a stray cat. It was a dirty calico with matted hair and green eyes.
"It's time to go Adrian."
He looked up in utter terror, clinging to the mangy thing.

"Jess! We can't leave Fredric! Animal control might catch-"
"They'll catch us too if we don't move on."  I grabbed his sleeve, but he pulled away.
"C'mon! Just let me keep her!" He cried, eyes wide and pleading. Fredric started to hiss.
"Okay, so you found a female cat, and named it Fredric. Wow."

"Hurry up you two!" Called Fennec, running backwards so he could face us. I grabbed Adrian around the waist, and hoisted him over my shoulder.
"HEY! LET ME GO! FREDRIC!" He reached out towards the cat, stretching as far as he could. Fredric licked her paws, and walked around a corner. Slowly but surely, we caught up with the group. Adrian just looked back at the sidewalk, and sniffled.

"You never let me keep cats."
"You're allergic to them."
"I don't care," He grouched, and gave up trying to escape. Sam stopped the group in front of a covered bus stop, and motioned for us to sit.
"Finally," groaned Fennec. "My feet were killing me."
Sam roller her eyes. "Well, if you want to get to the falls, we need to catch the bus to the 7th stop, then we'll need to walk a little while to get there. You guys got money for tickets?" She demanded.

Kaliah grimaced, and looked into her wallet. "How much is it going to cost?"
"Around $5.50  per ticket. It's a discount week."  Kaliah sighed, and pulled out a wad of bills.
"You count it out, I'm no good with these 'dollars'." Sam smiled, and took the bills. She quickly sorted the money, and passed it around..

"Alright, so when the bus gets here, you hand the driver this and he'll give you a ticket. You keep that ticket, and you can ride the bus."
"We know," I said, adjusting adrian so he didn't fall off my shoulder. "We ride the bus in England too." She opened her mouth to reply, but thought better of it.

We handed the money to the driver when the bus came, and sat down. The seats were warm from sunlight, and burned your behind when you sat on them. Pretty soon Fennec was panting from heat, begging to take his hat and sweatshirt off.

"Please Kaliah! It's just way to hot!" He whined, face red and sweaty. She furrowed her brow in concern, but shook her head.
"You can't. It'll give us all away."
So he sat, panted, and began to whine like a dog. Adrian fell asleep leaning on the seat in front of him, and his cheek got stuck to the plastic. Ocean chatted quietly with Sam, getting to know each other a little better to make up for their time apart. The bus moved slowly, dragging out the ride. Eventually, the houses were replaced with trees, the traffic lights with rocks, and the bus stopped at a trail marker. The engine hummed to a stop, and the driver opened the door.

"Alright, everybody off!" She called, wiping her face with a handkerchief. Nearly everyone headed towards the trails, hoisting backpacks and handing around trail mix. Sam waved us off to a different path, running over dry leaves and broken beaches.
"C'mon!" She hissed, and ducked into the bushes.

We walked over cracked dirt and pine needles, pushing branches out of our way and cutting through hedges. Sam's shirt got caught on a branch, and her legs kept getting scratched by thorns. Adrian pulled a branch back, smacking me in the face.
"Adrian!" I growled. He turned and glared, then turned back to face forward. He stomped through the stream ahead, muttering about wet socks.

"What's his problem," whispered Sam, who was promptly shushed by Kaliah. After about twenty minutes of walking, we could hear the water. Sam stepped over a fallen tree, and stopped in front of a rocky ledge.

"Okay, so, um... Which of you can climb rocks?" Kaliah sighed, and unzipped her backpack to let her wings out.
"Okay..." Her eyes widened at her wings, and Kaliah smirked.

"Let me guess," said Adrian, speaking his first words since the bus. "The caves are at the top, and no one thought it was necessary to build a set of stairs." He sighed, and placed his hand on the stone. "About 20 feet, seems like limestone, and there's enough footing for one skilled person. Who wants to risk it?"  Everyone took a step back. Kaliah rolled her eyes, grabbed me around the waist, and shot straight up into the air. Once on the ledge, she let go, and held my shoulder to steady me.

"You alright?" She asked once I stopped stumbling.
"Yeah, just a little shaken up is all." She smiled, and gave me a quick hug.
"Good. Just sit here, I'll come back with the others." She turned and jumped off the cliff, using her wings as a parachute last second. Next she brought Fennec, then Adrian, then Ocean, and Sam.

"Woah." Choked out Sam after being set on the ledge. She went on, voice getting higher and higher as she went on. "Yesterday I knew next to nothing about magics and then it's just like 'whelp, I'm gonna lift you into the air and drop you on a cliff!' How cool is that!" Fennec raised an eyebrow. She stopped jabbering, And covered her grin.

"Alright," I said, getting to my feet. "Once everyone can stand again, let's keep moving."
We walked along the ledge, holding tight to the rock. There were a few mishaps, (Adrian losing his flower hat, Sam dropping her phone after attempting to text her grandfather that she was still alive) but we made it into the caverns in one piece.

"Hey," said Sam, running over to a spray paint covered rock. "I remember this! Jack Melissa and I used to hang out here. See! My names here, and we left a stash of root beers here!" She dragged out a case of glass bottles, and cracked one open.
"Since it's pretty cool in here, they're still good!" She handed them around, and helped us smash the top in.

"Hmmm..." Kaliah stuck her finger in the top, and put it in her mouth. "Sweet." She said, and downed half the bottle in one gulp. I opened my own, and took a sip. It was a little flat, but tasted pretty good for having been left in a cave for a year.

While we finished the root beers, Sam told is all she knew about the caverns.
"Apparently some teens died in here somewhere in the 1940s, but that was around a hundred years ago, so nobody ever looked into it. Um... It's kinda been a hangout for kids, and a dare spot, and there's several caverns. There's a few in the back that no one's gone through though." She frowned into her bottle, and turned it upside down.
"Oh. Empty." She dropped the bottle next to her, and popped open a new one.

Adrian scooted into a crevice, and curled into a ball around his soda. I scooted towards him, and tapped his shoulder.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I miss home." He mumbled, and scooted further into the dark.
"Why? We'll be back soon, and we wouldn't be at home even if we went with the other kids." He looked down, and then stared at me.
"Jess, do we know what we're doing?" I tucked my arm around him, and told the truth.

"Not really." He tucked his head back into his lap, and pulled closer to me.

"Was this Dad's?" He whispered, holding his charm. It glowed slightly red in the dark. I held mine up next to his, and they lit the corner with a dim light. I touched it lightly, and it brightened.

"I think it could have belonged to him, yeah. But he didn't die, you know. He probably still has his."
"Well, I think it was. You know, we should have code names."
"Really? Like what?" I asked, ruffling his hair.
"You can be Oak, because of your charm. I'll be Maple ."
"Well alright then, Maple. I propose that we rejoin the group, because Kaliah's gotten the cookies we snitched out of her pack." I pulled him to his feet. He took a swig of root beer, and started walking.
"Do they have oatmeal raisin ones?" I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
"Yup. Peanut butter, too."