J A M E S

 

James kept his thoughts to himself. To say anything was to earn the laughter or hostility of the women with whom he walked.

When they reached the other side of the valley the old ladies begged off and left the warriors to take them the rest of the way. He wasn’t sure why they opted out; even if ancient, they seemed fully capable of climbing a mountain. If Rain hadn’t been there, he might have feared the warriors intended to chop him up and feed him to the vultures.

They climbed the switchbacks and periodically a foul-smelling warrior turned around to ask if he needed a rest. Though he was huffing for breath, he’d never admit to his matronizing entourage that he was struggling. Even the way they walked—jaunty in step, as if out for a leisurely stroll—was an intentional stab to his ego.

Often he wanted to turn back, run across the valley, and find his way back to town—to Angus, to the truck, home. He had no sense of his daughter in this strange place. Had she really passed through here? Walked these same trails? He felt so out of his element and he couldn’t rule out the possibility that this was an elaborate trick. Perhaps, in some manner, they’d swallowed Lilly, and planned the same for him and Rain.

He wished Lilly had left more clues, like the photograph, so he could find her and finish this. Nothing here related to Lilly, except possibly Rain. But she was getting so chummy with the heathens that he feared she wouldn’t want to go home. Returning emptyhanded—childless—was not an option. Hopefully Rain would come back to her senses when they found Lilly.

Ahead of him, the warriors approached a sharp turn. There were shouts of greeting as they intercepted another group, though a boulder blocked him from seeing the downhill travelers. James found a burst of speed and barged through the warriors, past the boulder, expecting to see—

“Lilly!”

A bunch of hippie women gazed at him. While the savages explained who he was, James rushed through the strangers with rude hands, pushing them aside, because maybe….

Maybe they’d cured Lilly and returned her to normal size. Maybe she was hiding behind one of their grungy dresses, waiting to jump out and surprise him.

“Lilly?” Now he was ahead of everyone on the trail. The pack of women stood below him, but Lilly wasn’t there. “She isn’t with you?” he pleaded.

The hippies shook their heads, confused. “No, you have to keep going.”

“She’s fine, as fine as can be.” This one sounded like someone appraising a new ship, not the health of an imperiled girl.

“See you back home,” called the flame-haired one as they continued downward.

“We gotta talk about fixing that door,” said Decembra on her way up.

James wanted to scream. Rip out his hair. Bash somebody’s head against a rock until they told him—precisely—where to find his daughter. These women understood nothing about a father’s anguish, and their casual manner made him doubt their intention. But the warriors were back on the march, heading over a low dip between the mountains.

He hurried to catch up before the last of them dropped out of sight.

 

 

Soon James found himself at the foot of a mountain that struck him, somehow, as gentler. That was the word it inspired. He would’ve described its color as soft, its vegetation as plucky, and its rocky formations as whimsical—or even childlike. A rabbit bounded across the path. That, too, bode well: it wasn’t a wolf or a cougar or some other predator with which the warriors might feel a kinship. A raven circled above them and let out a foreign sound, an unarticulated squawk.

The procession stopped.

“We’ll leave you now. It’ll be easy from here.” Decembra and the others turned homeward.

“Thank you!” Rain waved goodbye to her new comrades.

“Wait! Where’s Lilly?” The panic came on again. This was no place to be left alone.

“If you can’t find her now,” said the girl who’d befriended Rain, “then you’re truly blind.”

They had the gall to laugh before they abandoned him.

“How will we find our way back?” James called.

“Don’t worry Mr. Wolf,” Rain said. “It should be pretty easy.” She continued up the mountain, quick and light-footed, and utterly indifferent to his hesitation.

James couldn’t figure out how—or why, or when, or where—he’d become the only one who had no idea what was going on. Rain was more like his elder here and he hated feeling so small, so incompetent. So unheeded.

“Lilly?” Rain cast her eyes to the mountain’s top as she glided up the next switchback. Her question was inquisitive, a hopeful girl wondering “Are you there?”

James responded with a brasher “Lilly!” A demand to stop fooling around. Where was she? Hiding in a cave?

“Lilly!” A demand that she show herself. “Lilly!”

He chased after Rain, short of breath. The mountain had gradual slopes, easy to walk paths, but it was immense. From the vistas he peered out toward the rest of the range, hoping to spot signs of civilization, another town. Or maybe a castle—that would appeal to Lilly; he could imagine her journeying to a castle.

A kingdom for his princess.

That’s it! At last it made a degree of sense. Lilly found herself in a fairytale world and was rescued by a prince. Thank goodness—someone who’d protect her. James felt better, and more confident, now that he had a logical clue about what he should look for. He scoured the surrounding landscape as he climbed, looking for the first signs of a kingdom across the way.

There! A glint, a flash of light….