The Woods

Part 14

        Their plan was in motion. Lucia and Dilly, along with a handful of other villagers, had laid out disguised nets at possible locations where Quinn could leave the woods. Lucia had gone to his house, claiming that she wished to speak to him, but his older brother had said that he was not at home. No villagers had seen him in town, so there was only one place he could be.

Two Lighthill citizens were perched in two different trees above their assigned net so that they could see if they caught him, but also to make sure the net was in good condition. The safest way to imprison a friend of a witch was by staying as far away as possible. There were to be so many leaves on top of it so that even the ones who laid it out would have trouble locating the ropes, but not so many for it to look unbalanced from the rest of the forest. The trap had to be laid out, Dilly had said, so that they could catch the boy who sided against their town. It was an intricate plan, though it seemed simple to the untrained eye.

Now, with the rest of their plans complete, all Dilly and the others had to do was wait for the nets to do their work. And finally, Dilly would have her .

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Quintin and Bri had been on their way home, passing the meadow in which he had first met the Witch of the Woods. As they passed through, he recalled their conversation the night before on the floor of the cave that Astraea lived in. He thought of his family, and was thankful that although his family was pretty messed up, they weren't that messed up.

Once again, now that they were away from Astraea, Bridget was back to her mature self, with a grim expression set on her face. No longer did he see the glee that had settled there on their way to the cave. He sighed, looking at Bri, and wished he could keep her happy a bit longer. He didn't want to anger Astraea, so he didn't do anything about it then.

They were almost home when he heard the whispers. He paused, trying to make out words, wondering who else could be in the woods. The townsfolk were too scared to enter even a foot into the woods, and no one like Astraea would dare come that close to Lighthill. He was thinking all this when he felt a heavy weight land on him from above, pinning him to the ground. Bri screamed. That was when he noticed that the whispering had stopped. It took him a while to figure out what was happening, and when he did, it was too late. His hands were held tight behind his back by strong hands that were not seasoned from working on a farm. He was blinded a black bag that was slid over his head. He had no idea who was doing this to him, or why, but he heard a woman, the one who must have been holding him, shouting to others in the distance. A man's voice responded. Then another. He stopped struggling when he heard the third voice. Lucia's voice. He felt betrayal hit him like a boulder, causing him to stop struggling and wonder. Now he knew that the group was made up of Lighthill residents, but why? Why were they doing this to him? A hand reached under the black bag and pressed a bag to his nose. He quit breathing in. What the hand held to his nose was a concoction of different herbs that after only a few breaths, the victims fell asleep. Only a highly skilled remedy master would be able to create such a unique mixture with such effects. However, no mortal man can hold his breath for so long, and soon he felt himself grow limp in the arms of the woman.

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Bridget watched in horror as fellow villagers from Lighthill captured her brave older brother and put him to sleep. After he went out cold, she shouted at them to stop.

"No! NO! You can't do this to Quinn! He didn't DO anything!" He's my older brother, nothing and nobody should be able to defeat him as easily as that. He's supposed to protects me! "Stop!" Finally, after all her shouting, someone in the crowd that surrounded Quintin noticed her and pointed at her, asking the woman who seemed to be in charge what to do about her. However, she was too busy to notice, and the man soon forgot about her. She stood there helplessly, wishing she was older so that she could talk some sense into the mean adults that were taking her brother.

Suddenly, she knew what she could do to help. Astraea! She ran away from the group, desperately trying to remember where her friend's cave was. She passed the meadow before a villager realized she was missing and yelled into the woods. She quickened her pace, but her small legs couldn't handle the intensity in which she used them. Her feet were sore, and she kept tripping, but she pushed on, determined to get Ash to help. Her eyes stung, but she refused to cry. There was still a chance to save Quinn. Her breathing was ragged when she reached the waterfall, and she splashed through it to the cave on the other side. Astraea wasn't there. The situation got worse when one of the burly men she had seen before found the entrance and began to slowly inch his way through the tiny opening. Now the tears came, and they streamed sown her little face, creating a small waterfall themselves. She wailed. Her older brother was sure to be gone by now, and Astraea was still missing. A scream escaped from her lips. For the first time ever, she was experiencing hate.

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When Astraea heard the scream, she immediately recognized Bridget's voice. She didn't even have time to wonder what was going on, but nothing should make that happy child scream. As she ran towards where she thought she had heard the shrill voice, and was slightly surprised to find herself back by her cave. A thick man had his back to her and was trying to get through her small entrance. By the sound of Bri's calls for help, Astraea knew she was inside. Anger filled her throughout, and before she knew what she was doing, the man fell backward, an unknown force killing him. His eyes stared blankly ahead, and his chest was still. As she stepped over his limp body and into the cave, she was slightly terrified at what she had done.

Bri was inside the cave as Astraea suspected, clutching her knees to her chest and sobbing. At first, when Astraea touched her, she screamed and kicked, but when the child saw her hero's face, she stopped and told her a story of what had happened at the edge of the woods.

"They can't do that! He's my brother!" She wailed. Before anyone or herself could stop her, she ran out the cave, her bare feet slamming into the rough ground, and to the place that Bridget had described.

There she saw a woman holding a body with a black bag down on a wagon that was dragged by three strong steeds pulling away from the woods. A group of other men and women traveled along beside the two. She gritted her teeth. Although she could not see his face, she recognized the limp body to be Quintin. She ran after them, screaming at the top of her lungs. Three people fell dead, but the cart continued on, and the woman that held Quintin... Was her mother.

"No! Dillani! Don't!" But the cart just sped up, leaving her in the swirling dust, alone.

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I realize that I haven't updated in quite a while... This story is sort of slowly coming to an end, I guess. I'm still going to work on it, but I am working on a personal novel, so updates will be much more spread out. Thank you for understanding.