LAURA LOOKED DOWN AND saw Millie clinging to her leg.
“Millie, what are you doing?!” Laura said through gritted teeth.
“What are you doing?!” Millie whispered. “Get back down here before you get caught!”
“Let me go,” Laura said, clutching the wall. “I’m going to find the Crystal Crown.”
“The Crystal Crown? B-but how? And wh-where?” Millie sputtered.
Laura nodded toward the hills. “Out there.”
“Out there is the worst there ever! You can’t do this!”
“I’m going. There’s nothing you can do to change my mind!” Laura flailed her leg, but Millie held on tight. It looked as if she were flying a kite in a hurricane.
“What if I begged?” said Millie.
“No.”
“What if I cried?”
“No.”
“What if I made you a gray pear pie?”
“That’s literally the worst idea you’ve ever had.”
Laura wrenched her leg away so strongly that Millie finally lost her grip. Laura pushed herself up on top of the wall, out of Millie’s reach.
Millie stared up at her with big sad eyes. “Don’t go.”
“I’m sorry,” said Laura. “But I have to. It’s the only way to save Hillview.”
Before Millie could protest any more, Laura dropped down onto the other side of the wall and landed in the soft dirt. Then she ran toward the hills, just like the orange fox. But she had barely made it a few steps when she heard a soft scream behind her, followed by a loud thud.
She turned around and saw Millie lying facedown in the dirt, her hair full of glowing green leaves. She had climbed up the tree and jumped. “Oof!” Millie groaned. “Really missed the landing on that one!”
Laura rushed over to her. “Are you okay?”
Millie sat up and clutched her knees to her chest. “I can’t believe it! I’m outside the walls!” She trembled with terror. “You’re outside the walls!”
“Yes, Millie, we’re both outside the walls.”
The color drained from Millie’s face and she looked as though she was about to heave up a week’s worth of rations. “Shouldn’t we be dead by now?!”
Laura grabbed Millie’s shoulders. “Why did you come after me? Have you lost your mind?”
“No, I haven’t lost my mind! And I’m not going to lose my best friend, either. I’m not letting you do this alone.”
Laura could hardly believe what she was hearing. She knew that Millie’s fear of the outside world was a far bigger barrier than any stone wall. Yet, she was willing to fling herself into the unknown anyway.
Laura took Millie’s shaking hands and pulled her to her feet. As always, Millie had a rucksack around her shoulder, the bottom sagging with gray pears.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Laura asked.
Millie nodded.
“Okay, then. Let’s go.”
Together, they marched away from Hillview into the tree-covered landscape. Laura told Millie about her mother’s notebook and about the last words she had written: Bloato wears the Crystal Crown. The sun rose higher in the sky. Millie wiped the sweat from her brow as they plodded up the nearest hill.
Just as they reached the top, they heard a chorus of voices echo through the valley: “Talamh’e.” Earth.
They turned around and saw the walls of Hillview vanish under a cloak of Lysor magic.
After trekking through the hills for hours, Laura and Millie reached the top of a steep slope of dry dirt. Down at the bottom, they could see a cluster of houses made of dried black clay with wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys.
“Millie, look. A village!” said Laura with relief. She was beginning to worry that they might hike for days without seeing anyone.
Millie shifted her eyes nervously. “Do you think Bloato’s down there?”
“Only one way to find out.” Laura raced down the slope.
“Hey, wait up!” Millie called, running after her. She slipped on the gravelly bank and slid all the way down. She got up, rubbing the seat of her pants. “Talk about hitting rock bottom.” She winced.
Laura helped her up, and they walked to the center of the village, where there was a crowded square. Vendors with carts full of goods stood at the edges. The townspeople looked just like Lysors, except none of them had locks of green hair.
Laura took a tunic out of her rucksack and tore off a strip of cloth. She tied it around her head like a bandanna so that it hid her glowing lock. Then she tore off another strip and handed it to Millie. “We should blend in.”
“Good idea,” Millie said, wrapping the cloth around her head. She breathed into her hand and sniffed. “I hope my breath doesn’t smell too much like Thew.”
“Don’t worry, just try to relax.”
“I’m calm! I’m relaxed!” Millie said in a strained voice that was neither calm nor relaxed.
They walked through an alleyway and entered the square. On a tall post was a wooden sign carved with the words THE DEAD END.
Millie shuddered. “Scary name for a town.”
Laura grabbed her hand. “Come on.”
They stopped at a cart where a woman was selling brightly colored clothing. There were silk shirts and velvet dresses, capes and trousers with elaborate patterns. Even though they had just left home, Laura already felt as if she were a thousand miles away from the bland beige tunics of Hillview.
“How do you make clothes with such brilliant colors?” Laura asked the woman behind the cart.
“Dye,” she replied.
“Die?!” Millie shouted. “Laura, she’s going to kill us!”
Laura elbowed Millie. “Wrong kind of ‘dye,’ ” she said through gritted teeth. She feigned a laugh. “Sorry about her,” she said to the woman. “She’s got a weird sense of humor!”
She dragged Millie away, whispering, “Remember—calm and relaxed.”
“Right! Sorry,” Millie said.
They walked past a man selling hand-carved wooden instruments. There were rows of small flutes, drums with animal hides stretched over the tops, and guitars with big round bodies and long thin necks. The man picked up a guitar and strummed a chord. It was unlike anything Laura and Millie had ever heard.
They strolled by a wagon filled with colorful spices. The air was a swirl of exotic aromas. Millie took a big sniff and ended up sneezing an explosion of cinnamon.
That’s when they saw something that stopped them both in their tracks. It was a cart piled high with fruits and vegetables. There was produce of all different shapes, sizes, and colors.
“Oh. My. Goodness,” Millie whispered.
Laura’s mouth started to water. “Let’s go!”
They pushed their way through the crowd until they reached the produce cart.
Laura pointed to a bushel of bright orange carrots. “Look at those!”
“They’re amazing!” Millie exclaimed.
The fruit seller, a stocky bald man wearing a dirt-stained smock, regarded them with amusement. “They’re just carrots. Want to try?” He snapped a carrot in half and handed the pieces to Laura and Millie.
They bit into the carrots with a satisfying crunch. As they chewed, their faces lit up with wonder.
“That’s the best thing I’ve ever had!” Laura marveled.
“We’ve got to find a carrot tree!” said Millie.
“Actually, we pull them out of the dirt,” said the fruit seller.
“I don’t even care.” Millie beamed and took another bite.
“If you think that’s good, try these!” the man said, handing Millie and Laura two ripe tomatoes. No one had ever been this enthusiastic about his produce before.
Laura took a bite out of the tomato. Bright red juice dribbled down her chin.
“It’s bleeding!” Millie said with alarm.
“That’s the juice,” the fruit seller laughed.
“Juice,” Millie repeated, intrigued. Gray pears had only chalky pulp.
The fruit seller saw something over Laura’s shoulder, and the friendly smile on his face darkened. She turned to where the man was looking. There was a boy about her age wandering through the crowd, his eyes darting from side to side. He had rumpled blond hair and tattered clothes. He was so thin that Laura could see the outline of his rib cage through a hole in his shirt. She noticed something striking about him. One of his eyes was green, and the other one was violet.
“Watch out for that one,” the fruit seller growled. “He’s a thief.”
Millie pulled her rucksack close to her chest.
As soon as the boy was gone, the fruit seller’s smile returned. “Anything else you want to try? Help yourself.”
Millie reached for a golden-brown onion, and before the fruit seller could warn her, she took a gigantic bite. Her face turned red, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“What is this?” she gasped.
“An onion,” the fruit seller said. “Probably best not to eat it raw.”
“Woo!” Millie said, wiping the tears from her bloodshot eyes. “I feel alive!”
Laura burst out laughing.
The fruit seller laughed, too. “You can keep that onion. It’s on the house.”
“Wow,” Millie said, putting the onion in her rucksack. “Carrots from the dirt and onions from the house.”
Laura put her arm around Millie. “See? The world isn’t so scary after all.”
Suddenly the square was filled with the sound of screaming as people fled in every direction. Laura turned and glimpsed the most terrifying creature she had ever seen in her life. It was the size of a large dog, with mangy fur and pointy ears. Its mouth was filled with sharp black fangs dripping oily drool. And it was running straight at her.
