Puddlebrain

Chapter Thirty Five

"Come on feet," she said, looking down. "Show me the way."

Puddlebrain, not actually expecting her feet to guide her without her guiding them, simply walked forward. As she neared the wall of trees, they parted, branches creaking and moving to create a tunnel of wood and leaf. She had no choice, she knew, but to follow it and hope Thistle – and the Grimace – would lead her out. She was wary, wondering if the forest would actually lead her in circles, an eternity spent wandering around with no hope of escape.

It was a chance she had to take, for the villagers, her sisters and herself. For so long she'd been in their shade. Edna and Gemini treated her as if she was the baby and the rest of Little Whimsy followed suit. Now she had to prove she wasn't. Hopefully then she might believe herself it too.

She walked a few paces into the tunnel before looking back. The trees had closed behind her, cutting off any hope of escape, should she have wanted one. Escape, however, was not an option. What would she do? Where could she go? No, Puddlebrain had one goal and that was to save all those who had, in one form or another, mistreated or looked down upon her. Without wondering why she might do such a thing for those who, quite possibly, would have to think twice, thrice or never even imagine doing the same for her, she continued on.

As she walked, the branches, trunks and roots ahead moved in a fluid, snake-like motion. The creaking was gone and, instead, the trees almost hissed into place, creating a confined but clear path for her to follow. She tried, a couple of times, to sprint, hoping to outrun The Grimace and choose her own way through to the outside world but the forest was too fast for her. The passageway slithered together in anticipation of her dash and kept her exactly where it wanted her to be.

She wanted to vent, to cry out at her frustration of being led rather than simply being able to just go, but knew it would be pointless - and knew, without the guidance, this witch would quite possibly never been seen again.

With a sigh of acceptance, she carried on walking. Considering it was night-time, Puddlebrain discovered she could see quite well. There seemed to be no light seeping in through the branches from the star-filled sky, nor were the trees glowing in any way that the witch could perceive. Still, she could see when she expected to be fumbling around. Perhaps her eyes had adjusted to the dark as if she'd enjoyed a diet of carrots for the past century. You never saw a blind rabbit. Maybe the Grimace was shining in a way she couldn't tell. Either way, Puddlebrain was pleased she didn't have to feel her way along the tunnel. She could easily have tripped, broken a limb and been stranded.

Suddenly, the path opened up. It wasn't exactly a clearing such as the one she'd met Thistle in, being covered over and enclosed. It was more like a room. Perhaps the cellar back at the house. Either way, something was before her that made the breath catch in her throat on its way out to the big wide world. She stopped dead in her tracks, her feet matching her breath for its inability to move.

Billy!

Growing out of the ground, roots spreading and twisting with those of the rest of the Grimace, was the gnome. In the short time the pair had been parted, moss had already taken hold and was covering the lower part of his face in a dark green and yellow beard. Cobwebs spun across the large boles that made up his ears and, in one, a spider with long, spindly legs three times the length of his yellow and black striped body dined on a beetle of some sort.

The spider skittered away as the witch ran forward. She hugged him close, ignoring the hardness of his skin and how it grazed her cheek. Tears ran from her closed eyes and trickled from cheek to bark where it soaked into the wood. How could she do this to her friend? How could she abandon him?