{ELEMENTISTS OF WILLOW FOREST BOOK II} The Pain of Earth

"Your Money or Your Life, Suckers!"

23:  "Your Money or Your Life, Suckers!"

Pebble cursed when she saw that this carriage was full.  It looked like they were going to have no choice but to stand.  She, her sister and Sasha found a corner which would have been suitable, and each found a rail to grab on to.  But then two, acne-riddled idiots of teenage girls squashed them into the corner, like it was their part of the train and no one else had any right to it.  One of them switched on their phone, to be dismayed it was on zero battery.  They looked at each other, then burst out laughing for no reason.  And again.  And again.

Sigh.

Bored, she looked around the rest of the small carriage.  Two businessmen with greying hair, a young family with two toddlers that kept crying "Are we nearly there yet?", a large woman in a cleaner's uniform playing Candy Crush, an elderly lady with all her shopping bags taking up two seats.  On the other side, a lady reading a book and five men, three of which were also on electronic devices.

Pebble asked the woman if she could possibly move her shopping bags so they could sit down, away from the laughing idiots.  Two seats between the three of them would be enough.  The lady rudely ignored her, and scowled as if to say 'my shopping bags are way more important than you.'

With nothing else to do, (Sasha had forbidden use of the phone in case there was a way J could track her with it) Pebble reflected on recent events.

After Rock nearly fell out of that tree, they had scratched getting any more sleep (eight hours would have to do) and had continued on their journey.  With no more major interruptions apart from spotting a Death Wolf or two among the trees, they had reached the tourist centre by nightfall.

Scurrying inside like the rest of the Lake District was about to explode and that was the only safe house, Sasha had ordered Pebble and Rock to sneak into a changing room at a shop.  She came back a few minutes later with an outfit of hiking gear for them each, complete with an 'I ♥ The Lake District' hoodie.  She also had train tickets, which she assured them, would take them as close as they could to Willow Forest.

How she had done it, they had no idea.

They had taken the bus to the nearest town, found the train station, taken three transfers, and then here they were.  The very last leg of the journey back home.

Home.

Pebble, and she knew most other members of the Association of Elementists thought of Willow Forest as home, as well as representatives of almost every aspect of the animal kingdom.  Only a week before Felix had kidnapped her and Rock, Pebble had seen a family of platypi.

Sure, it was still technically Olivia's more than anybody.  But a forest couldn't just belong to one person.  It was home to many, plants, animals, and people.  If it wasn't, well, it wouldn't be a forest, really, would it?

Suddenly, the door to the carriage slid open.  Pebble looked up at it as it was a break in the monotony, after all.  Something about them made her feel uneasy.  There were three boys, scanning the faces.  One was beefy, one was skinny, and one was spotty.