"We're here to help you."
"Oh..."
When Spencer, Martha, Bethany, and Fridge get stuck in a video game as adventuring avatars, they have to venture through the jungle and join forces with a well-accomplished archaeologist to end a curse and save the...
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There was a moment of heavy silence as everyone recovered, the tension from just moments before slowly fading away.
"'Trust one another and never blink'," Spencer repeated, breaking the silence. Then he looked at Vera who was still recovering from the scare, staring down at the now limp snake where it lay on the ground at their feet. "You trusted me."
She looked up at him and seemed to realize this too. "Yeah, I-I did." Her fear fell away and turned into a small smile, which he returned.
"And you trusted me," said Fridge. "And I de-fanged the snake."
"We trusted each other," Martha realized aloud. "'Trust one another and never blink.'"
There was a moment of quiet victory.
"I de-fanged a snake!" declared Fridge again, now beaming, obviously impressed with himself.
"Um, well it's definitely not the missing piece of the map..." The others turned to Bethany who had retrieved what the snake had been guarding in the basket. A small stone carving of an elephant, wrapped in parchment.
"Look, there's something written on the wrapping paper: 'The jewel is the heart but it is not the key. When you see me, begin the climb,'" Martha read.
"Oh no, more riddles."
"'When we see an elephant?"
"Climb?"
"Heart? Key?"
"What about the missing piece?"
"I guess we just have to keep looking."
And with that, they started to head back to the busier section of the bazaar.
Bethany caught up to Vera, who still appeared tense. "Jealous?" she asked. When Vera looked at her quizzically she elaborated. "When that kid was calling Spencer a mighty hero, you seemed sort of jealous."
Now Vera understood. She shook her head. "No. I just thought that I would be the one to save Jumanji." She paused and thought about this. "That sounds jealous, and selfish, only it's not. It's just, I'm part of the reason this whole curse happened in the first place, so it only makes sense that I should be the one risking myself to end it. It's only fair. That's why you guys shouldn't be here, risking yourselves."
"Yeah I really didn't want to."
"Bethany!" cried Martha.
"But that was before," Bethany finished. "Now I want to help. We all do." She looked to Martha who nodded in agreement.
Vera smiled. "Thank you."
"So what now?" asked Fridge as they wandered back through the market.
"I don't know," Vera replied. "We keep looking for the missing piece I suppose. And the jewel now as well."
When they emerged into the more open part of the bazaar, Vera noticed it first: the large vulture perched on the roof above, eyeing them with its beady eyes, eyes that locked with hers.
Something- fear almost - flashed across her face. "We need to go, now."
(Cliffhanger! Sort of ;) Like I said these few chapters are shorter but that means I'll post them sooner! Hope you all enjoyed and as always, thanks so much for reading! Bye!)
