Clouds Don't Own the Sky

Chapter 8

"This bramble hurts!" Austin complained.

"Shh, we're waiting to hear them!" Micah responded.

"I think Lauren was right, I don't think anyone's comin-"

Austin paused as she heard a branch crack, it was from a good distance away but she immediately shut up. "I'm glad you chose to join me here. Now, if I could just have those notes on the 4 children I told you to watch." The person was unrecognizable but Austin just immediately looked at Micah with a knowing look. There was no doubt about it, this person was Mrs. Luna. A new voice began speaking. "What's in it for me then? If I give you these notes?"

"Honey, we didn't make a contract. There's nothing in it for you, but everything for me."

"Then I can take the book and figure out the riddle by myself, then I'll get the benefits of it."

"Oh please, you make me laugh. No one has ever finished this riddle without ending in a horrible death. You won't stand a chance."

"Alone."

"What?"

"I want to make a contract, I'll take notes on them, give them to you, and whatever they discover we'll be 2 steps ahead in figuring out the riddle. Then we can get the book back from them and use it for our own advantage. They won't know the difference, and they'll do all the work for us."

"That's preposterous, and share the wealth with a child?!"

"I don't want wealth, I want revenge. If we figure out the riddle you can keep this kingdom that you want to rule, and I'll use my revenge power on someone else. After that, you'll never hear from me, I'll go away from this kingdom and you don't have to worry about seeing me ever again."

"What if this contract is broken? You are a child after all, children lie."

"If I try to take your wealth you also have revenge power, you can kill me. Now do we have a deal?"

"Fine. We do. Now give me the notes!" Mrs. Luna snatched the notes and a moment of silence followed. "Just so you know, I expect notes every week, and as soon as you figure out the riddle you should give the answer to me or else."

"I will, don't worry." Mrs. Luna nodded to the smaller silhouette and in a moment they both disappeared from the forest. The 4 children crawled out of the bramble dusting the branches off their shoulder. "The silhouette was too small for Mrs. Belle and the voices didn't match, I guess Lauren was right, she wasn't the one taking notes on us," Micah lamented.

"Then who WAS taking notes on us, and who WILL be taking notes on us. Guys, we can't let anyone get their hands on this book, you heard Mrs. Luna, she wants to rule the kingdom. This other person wants to take revenge on some poor helpless soul. This book is bad news, and we need to protect it at all costs. From now on, if we talk about the book it needs to be in a protected place, and we need to always look around to make sure no one is following us," Austin says.

"Maybe we should just give it to Mrs. Belle and tell her to burn it or whatever they do with these illegal books. We can tell her what we heard," Lucas says.

"That won't work, Lucas." Lauren sighs. "I think Mrs. Belle wouldn't believe us. We're kids after all, kids that shouldn't know about this forest place. Kids that shouldn't have the Book of Knowledge. She'll think that Mrs. Luna was right, we stole the book, and then we'll all get kicked out. We're too deep into this to get out, we're just going to have to be extra careful." Lucas just stares off into the distance and shakes his head.

"Count me out of it, then."

"Wait! Lucas, hey! We're... we're a team. Come on, don't be like that."