RECAP

"So," she says with a light tone of mischief "what's the plan?"

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"The plan?" He smiles, his eyes light up at the thought of being one step closer to saving his little brother. "Well, that's the easy part isn't it?" he asks. "All we have to do is follow the clues. Of course we have to understand what they mean though," he says running his hand through his dark brown hair.

"Can I see the note?" I ask, putting my hand out towards him.

He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the note he found the morning his brother disappeared. "Follow the bright moon," I read aloud, "To the place of bedtime snacks." My mind wanders to the time my grandmother told me a story. A story about a young girl living with seven men. To be honest, I wouldn't know who would actually want to live with seven men. I mean, one man makes a mess, but seven? I think about how the story ended, a handsome prince bent down and kissed her, through the power of true love, she awoke. I shut my eyes tight, trying to remember how she fell asleep, I knew she ate something, but I wasn't sure what. The silence of the forest was too loud for me to look through my memories. Finally, I gave up trying to remember, my grandmother had said it was a classic, maybe Augustin would know it too. "Snow White." I said softly.

He breathes in sharply, realizing my sudden stroke of genius, but who wouldn't?"The apples!" he exclaimed."I was thinking about milk and stuff, that was one of the lines I was confused with. I was going to bring you to the cattle farms. Apple trees make a lot more sense though. Especially with the second verse. Lie with your feet towards the biggest of them all." he paused, waiting for me to tell him what he already knew.

"So, we place our feet near the biggest tree in the orchard." I said.

"Or close to the biggest apple."

I read the next two lines in the note, "Look for the lion, follow its head." I paused, not able to come up with an answer. I've never heard of a lion in an orchard.

"Yeah," he said,as if making an excuse,"I haven't come up with that yet."

I thought about the possible ways that we might be able to see a lion, if we were in Africa, this would be so much easier. I thought about how the second clue went with the third and fourth. We would be lying down, face to the sky and...

"Let's actually say what we're thinking, yeah? That way we can feed off each others ideas. Don't think just speak."

I decided to restart what I started thinking before. "The second clue has to connect to the third and fourth somehow," I say. " After we follow the second clue we will be lying on our backs with our feet towards the biggest tree."

"Or apple," he adds in.

"Yeah, or apple." Suddenly my mind goes towards the crazy old lady who lived in front of our school. "Do you remember Johnson?" I asked

"Mrs. Johnson? The old lady telling us stories about how the stars told her we would all be eaten by gelatin or something? I think so," he answered with a smile.

"Yes the stars, that's what I thought." My head starts whirring, I couldn't get my thoughts out in words fast enough so I keep them to myself. "Didn't she used to say things about the big dipper and orion's belt?"

"Yes, I think so," he said softly, trying to remember deep into his past.

"I think we should go talk to her," I said.

"Yeah, but I can't. I can't be seen, you'll have to go on your own."

"Okay, I'll go this evening. Maybe she still remembers me. We don't have to worry about her being alive, I hear kids going to that school talking about how they hope she doesn't come up to them. When we went there our worries weren't that she would come, but that she wouldn't. I think we all felt bad for her, she was kind of loopy and we all thought she was too frail to be alive for much longer."

"Well, we were wrong weren't we?" he laughs.

"Yeah, I guess so," I smile at him. "Let's try to get the rest of the note before I leave, okay?"

"Yes of course. I think I've figured the last three out." As he said that I read the last three lines of the note in my head. Until you reach the sea, the most welcoming house is deadliest, the most dangerous, the safest. The first of the three was obvious.

"So we have to follow the head until we get to a town near the sea. Then, find the house that is most dangerous to us, the one with my brother in it. Therefore it will look the most welcoming." He looks at me, waiting for my opinion.

"Yes, I think that's what it means," I say." The only thing left is to ask Mrs. Johnson what she thinks about the note."

"No!" he said, his voice sounds urgent, filled with fear. "You can't let anyone see the note, just...I don't know! Ask her about animals in the sky or something, please don't talk to her about the note." His eyes plead with me. He really needs to keep this note a secret.

"Okay," I nod and his smile returns." I'll go in the afternoon, who knows, she might still be prancing around the school area."

"Oh come on!" he says "There is no way a lady that old can prance around the school yard!"

I laugh and answer him sarcastically, " Of course she can, I've seen her you know. Throws her old bony arms around and everything! You wouldn't believe it if you saw it! I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming!" He throws back his head laughing, and stops abruptly.

"I have one more thing to tell you," he says "it's about the Shadow Assassins," he looks down at the dirt and leaves as he says it.

"What about them?" I ask.

"I didn't think it would be important but I thought about it and, well, it kind of is," he pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing." They have control over the realm between worlds."

"The realm between worlds? You mean the one I travel to, so I can get around? " I look at him, fear clutching my stomach, it's tight grasp leaves me feeling weak and out of breath. He nods. "How would that not be important? What if I get stuck there?" I say the last part quietly, but he still catches me saying it.

"You can get stuck there?" he asks, very worried now. "Be careful okay? " he asks, kneeling down and putting a hand on my knee. "They can do whatever they want in that realm, and from what I understand, you don't have any control in that world. "

"I don't, I'll be careful don't worry, I've learned how to make sure I get out all the time." Tears fill my eyes as I remember the message I received as a little kid. I pushed it away quickly, trying to forget about it. I wipe my eyes and I hear the leaves rustle softly. Then a strong arm wraps itself around my shoulder. I feel safe, unable to be hurt while under his arm.

"You okay?" he asks softly placing the stray pieces of falling hair behind my ear. I take a deep breath and nod. "Alright, but if you want to talk, I'm here. I'll always be here... That was weird, sorry, I didn't mean to make this awkward. I just, well, um..."

I laugh cutting off his quiet murmurs of insecurity and wrap my arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder. All these years of crying alone makes having a friend that much better. He stops murmuring to pat my back gently, and lets me cry without interrupting. We sit there for what feels like hours while I cry about the past and the devastation that hasn't yet come.

I lift my head off his shoulder when I hear kids talking followed by the loud screeching noise of a bus turning and the smell of gasoline. "Sorry, about all that," I whisper. He let's go of me and the instant he is no longer holding me the world seems colder than it had ever been.

"Don't be sorry," he says brushing a tear off my wet cheeks.

"I'll go speak to Mrs. Johnson, I'll be back in an hour." I say before reluctantly turning my back to him and walking away, weaving my way through the forest.