The Sleepers quickly discovered they had made another mistake. They were much farther from the city of Celethorn than they had thought. Glori determined this the next day after going on a scouting expedition. She came back with a worried expression on her face. “I was wrong. It is the ridge beyond the one you see where the Land of the Magicians lies.”
Abbey was sitting beside Dave, who was lying flat on his back. He was still pale, and he had not recovered from the effect of the poison dart as fully as she had hoped. “Dave can’t travel,” Abbey said quietly. “He’ll have to be a lot better than this before he can walk.”
“We can’t stay here,” Glori said. She knelt beside him, putting a hand on his forehead. “I can see he’s very ill. Why don’t I go on ahead to Celethorn? I can make fast time, and when I get there I can return with a horse and wagon. The magicians can help him, I’m sure of that.”
The Sleepers looked at each other.
Abbey said uncertainly, “That may be best. I don’t think he’ll be able to move for a few days.” In her heart she was wondering if he would get well at all. He had been groggy, and his mind had wandered during the night.
“All right, then,” Glori said. “You have a little food left. It shouldn’t take me more than two days to get there, going as fast as I can—maybe less. And on the way back I’ll have the horse and wagon. Say altogether three days at the most.” She stripped off all her gear, saying, “I must travel lightly. Don’t fear—I will bring back help.”
The Sleepers stood watching as she loped lightly away, moving like a practiced runner.
Jake said hopefully, “Maybe she’ll make it even quicker than she thinks.” Then, looking down at Dave, he muttered, “He doesn’t look good to me.”
“He’s not good,” Abbey said, “and I don’t know anything else to do for him.”
Beorn said, “There are some herbs that my people use. I do not know if any grow around here, but I will look. They may help.” He strode away.
Reb went off to collect firewood. He was still grieving over Wash.
Sarah sat beside Abbey and Jake. Her face was lined with despair, and she could hardly speak. “We’re getting whittled down one by one. Josh, then Wash, and now Dave.”
Jake patted her shoulder. “We just have to keep on. There’s nothing else to do.”
Reb managed to snare a rabbit, and they made stew. But by now it was growing dark. “I wish Beorn would come back,” Jake muttered.
As if in answer to his wish, the dwarf emerged from the growing darkness. “I found the herbs!”
“Quick, give them to me,” Abbey said eagerly. She listened as Beorn explained how they were prepared. Soon the pot was boiling, and the leaves were simmering. “These may be the same herbs the centaurs used,” she said.
“Not the same,” Beorn said, “but maybe they will help.”
They treated Dave’s wound by binding leaves over the punctured flesh, which was now swollen, blue, and cold to the touch. Beorn raised Dave’s head, and he inhaled some of the vapors, which seemed to revive him. He spoke feebly, “I’m a lot of trouble . . .”
“Don’t say that.” Abbey put an arm around his shoulders, saying, “Here—try to get some of this stew into you.”
Dave ate a few bites, then shook his head. “No more.” His voice was a mere whisper, and he lay back again on his bedroll.
Abbey sat beside him as the hours of the night passed. From time to time she would look out into the darkness and listen, but there was no sound.
Sarah made breakfast, and they ate although no one seemed hungry. Then they sat around idly waiting, for there was nothing to do. Not fifteen minutes later, Sarah jumped up. “There!” she cried. “Glori’s coming— out of those trees.”
“That’s not Glori,” Jake said. “Who else could be out here in this wilderness?”
“Guess we just have to see,” Reb said. He loosened his sword from its sheath. “There’s only one of him, but you never can tell.”
The figure looked vaguely familiar to Sarah—something about the walk, the clothing. Then the newcomer lifted his head.
A thrill of unbelievable joy ran through Sarah. “Josh!” she cried and ran to meet him.
The others were right at her heels, and when they reached the lone figure, everyone babbled at once. “Josh, how did you get away? Are you hurt? How did you get here?”
“I’m all right,” Josh said. “I’m all right.” He looked well enough. His cheeks were a healthy color. “I wasn’t all that badly wounded, and I managed to get away when the guard went to sleep.”
Beorn came closer. “The guard went to sleep? That doesn’t sound like the Dark Lord’s guards!”
“What difference does it make?” Jake said impatiently. “Josh is here.” He threw his arms around the boy. “Am I glad to see you! You must be hungry. How did you get here?”
“Did you come through the Caverns of Doom?” Beorn asked. His eyes were half shut, and he was studying Josh with a careful stare.
Josh faced the dwarf. “I’ve been in the city of the magicians. After I made my escape, I went there, and I learned many things. They know what is happening to all of us.”
His speech, Sarah thought, seemed strangely stilted, somewhat mechanical and harsh. Her brow furrowed. “Josh, what’s wrong? You don’t sound like yourself.”
“I’ve had a hard time,” Josh said. And then he pointed at Beorn. “But there is the problem. That is who has brought all the terror into our lives.”
Sarah stared at Josh in disbelief. “What are you saying?”
“The magicians have ways of knowing things. They say it was Beorn who betrayed us. He’s responsible for Wash’s death. He gave you away. He was responsible for my ambush too. All along he’s been sending word to the servants of the Dark Lord.” Josh suddenly drew his sword and started toward the dwarf.
“Wait!” Sarah stepped in front of him. “That’s what Glori wanted to do. But—”
“She was right. She’s been the true guide. There’s the traitor!”
“But we can’t kill a helpless man,” Jake said. “If he is a traitor, we’ll have to let Goél make that decision.”
“He’s responsible for Wash’s death! Doesn’t that make you want to kill him, Reb?”
Reb stared at Josh and then at Beorn. Slowly he said, “I don’t know he’s responsible, and I don’t think you do either, Josh. These magicians, they’re a little bit too slick for me.”
“I’m the leader,” Josh said. “That’s what Goél said, isn’t it?” Without waiting for an answer, he advanced again on Beorn, sword in hand.
Abruptly Beorn said, “Look at his chest.”
“What did you say?” Sarah asked in bewilderment.
“Pull his shirt open and look at his chest. He has the smell of the Dark Lord about him—and if he is of the Dark Lord, he is not the Josh we knew. He’ll have the mark of doom on his chest.”
Josh let out a screech and threw himself at the dwarf. Sarah managed to push Josh so that the sword blade went wide. In one swift movement, Beorn knocked Josh down. At once he rolled him over and jerked the shirt aside.
“There, you see? The mark of the Dark Lord—the mark of doom.”
“I don’t understand. This is not Josh?”
“No,” Beorn said. “The enemy has many such foul tricks as this. I’ve heard of this before. Somehow they can conjure up what looks like a real person, but he’s not a real person. Look.”
Before they could stop him, Beorn plunged his dagger into the throat of the form lying on the ground. Sarah screamed and then covered her eyes, for the figure suddenly shriveled up. It shrank and shrank until nothing was left but a little bit of black ash.
“It wasn’t Josh,” Sarah whispered. “I knew it wasn’t Josh!”
“This proves one thing,” Beorn said. “Somehow the Dark Lord knows where we are.”
“Could one of the magicians in the city have done this?” Abbey asked. “If they can do a thing like this, we are not safe anywhere.”
“We’re not safe,” Beorn agreed. “We must be on our guard. Anything we see must be tested. No one is to be trusted. No one.”
The next day Dave awoke, his eyes clear. But his shoulder was painful, and he was not hungry. “Where are we?” he asked feebly.
“We’re waiting for Glori to come back with a horse and wagon to take us into the city,” Abbey said. “Here, you’re spilling stew all over yourself. You must eat.”
“What’s happened since I’ve been unconscious?”
“For one thing, we saw a false Josh,” Abbey said.
When Dave expressed astonishment, she told him the whole story.
He said slowly. “That’s going to make things harder. We won’t know a friend when we see one.”
“Sure we will,” Abbey said. “All we have to do is look at his chest. If they’ve got the mark of doom, they’re the enemy.”
“Did this Josh fool you?”
“Yes, he did, but I was so nervous and so ecstatic to see him, I guess it wasn’t hard to fool me. He didn’t fool Sarah, though.”
“Well, she knows him better than anyone else. She’s still grieving over him, of course. We all are.”
“I haven’t given up hope. I think Josh’s still alive, and I somehow believe that we’ll find him.”
Dave took her hand. “You always believe good things will happen, that the good people will always win.” He held her hand lightly, then smiled. “I hope you always think like that.”
Abbey flushed but did not pull her hand away. “I’m glad you’re better, Dave,” she whispered. “I was so worried about you. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”
His hand tightened on hers. She sat quietly beside him. They said nothing for long periods. It was a way they had come to have—to be comfortable with their silences.
On the third morning, Reb spotted someone approaching. “It looks like Glori coming, and she’s got a wagon.”
They all stood up to look. It was indeed Glori, riding a white horse. She was accompanied by a horse and wagon driven by a sturdy driver.
“How is Dave?” she called out.
“Much better,” Abbey answered. “But I’m glad you brought the wagon. He really shouldn’t walk.”
“None of you will have to walk. Everyone get in. We’re starting back at once for the city of the magicians.”
As Abbey made a bed for Dave in the wagon, Reb asked, “What about these magicians? Did you meet any of them?”
“No,” Glori said. “I was too anxious to get back here, but they know we’re here. You can be sure of that.”
“The Dark Lord knows we’re here too,” Beorn said grimly. “One of his emissaries found us last night. He came from that same direction.” He pointed toward Celethorn.
She stared at him coldly and said, “Get in, dwarf, or walk if you please. I still think you’re a traitor.”
All were soon in the wagon. When Glori nodded, the driver spoke to the horses, and they moved ahead.
“I can’t think Beorn is a traitor,” Reb said softly to Jake. “Remember how he stood in the way of that polar bear? That was the act of a brave man. That was no coward’s act.”
“I know he’s not a coward,” Jake said. “That doesn’t prove he’s not a traitor. He could have done it to save his own hide.”
“Do you think he’s a traitor, Jake?” Reb asked directly.
Jake was a clever young man, smarter than most of the other Sleepers. He said nothing for a while. Then he said, “I think for sure we’ll find out who’s the traitor when we face Goél. No one could stand before him.”