Ollie MacQuoid and the Journey To Rubius

Chapter Seven

Ollie woke with a feeling of panic. I fell asleep! He thought. On a dangerous beach! I'm such an idiot! Stumbling forward, he hit something hard and immediately began swinging at it with all his might, yelling incoherent threats as his hands stung and burned from the poison. When he paused in his onslaught to take in a breath, he heard something rather peculiar. Was somebody... chuckling?

"Are you done yet?"

It took him a couple seconds to fully notice the figure before him. It was an older woman, dressed in a loose dress, standing before them with a large brown bag thrown over her shoulder. She looked completely unbothered by Ollie's vicious assault. "Need some help?" she asked politely.

Ollie whirled around and found his friends sitting in the sand, unharmed, looking as wary as he did. Alaudidae's wound didn't look to be bleeding anymore, though he did wince when he shifted nervously. The woman passed by Ollie and began to walk up the beach in the direction of the forest.

"Up, up," the woman said, tapping on Alaudidae's shoulder. "It's getting late. I'm not leaving you three on the beach."

Alaudidae didn't seem too keen on following her, but left with little other options he helped Elora to her feet and the three of them made their way onto a break in the thick trees that lead onto a thin dirt path. Behind them, the sun dipped below the horizon, and it soon became so dark Elora had to grab Ollie's hand to make sure she wasn't getting left behind. Her palm was sweaty.

They arrived at a small clearing, where a quaint little cottage made of mauve wood stood steady in the middle, illuminated by lanterns. Beside it lay a sizable paddock. Ollie could see a large figure milling about inside, but it was too dark to see what was being kept within.

The woman led them inside, threw her bag on the counter, then locked the door behind her. When Ollie stared, she said casually, "Don't get wound up. It's just a safety precaution."

The inside of the woman's house was as carefree and colourful as her personality. It was covered in all sorts of hanging crystal beads, feathery dream-catchers, and bundles of dried herbs that left a pleasant smell in the air. She sat them down at her rounded kitchen table and went to stir something boiling on the stove, humming pleasantly to herself. The odour made Ollie's stomach growl. He hadn't eaten at all since the morning, and now that his nerves had died down, he felt famished.

"Congrats on surviving one of those blasted dogs," said the woman without turning around, "They're nasty buggers. Always scaring my Clementine half to death! Technically, she's supposed to scare them off, but she's still a baby, and I don't think she'll grow to be much of a scarer, though I love her all the same. Her father, though. Now that was one frightenin' howler!"

"Interesting," replied Alaudidae awkwardly. The woman ignored him and continued with her friendly chatter.

"Don't get many visitors here, but I don't blame you and your kids for not coming to these parts too often. There are some weird critters around places like these. Without proper protection, you could be snapped up by virtually anything!" She plucked from her bag an odd, murky-coloured fruit and, with impressive strength, cracked it in half with her bare hands. She poured some little white seeds into the pot and resumed her stirring.

"These aren't my kids," Alaudidae stammered, turning pink at the cheeks. The woman looked them over closely, seemed convinced, and continued her quiet melody as she scooped some chunky stew into four containers. She brought it over with a smile. "Eat up!"

Ollie was halfway done before he realized he was eating from a measuring cup.

Elora wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Thank you, Ma'am." She said.