Cumberland (Not A Dream Book 1) (10 page)

We turned back around and quickly began walking the other direction. We walked close together, and kept guard. I stopped as I heard several footsteps trotting towards us.

              “Do you guys hear that?” I asked.

              “Hear what?” Olivia responded.

              Jack held up his hand, and we stopped in our tracks. The sound kept getting louder, and closer. We stood back to back, ready to fight whatever is coming after us.

              Mason stood close to me, with his arm in front of my chest. Olivia stood on my other side, with Jack’s arm in front of hers. The sound got faster and louder, and then stopped instantly.

              I listened closely and did not hear any other sound. I turned around to look at Jack, and said, “I guess it was nothing. Let’s just continue our way back to the ‘T’ in the road.”

              Jack shook his head no, and told Olivia, “Get me my knife out of my belt.”

              She slowly unlatched his knife and handed it into his hand. He held it out in front of him and stood like a statue. But, I knew if I tried to tip him over, like people do to statues, I would be missing an arm for the rest of my life. A chance I would not take.

              A wolf jumped out in front of me, and eyed me carefully with his big brown eyes. Jack turned around and pushed me behind him. The wolf turned around and used its three tails to swipe Jack’s knife out of his hand.

              The wolf kept walking towards us, which forced us to walk backwards. His copper brown fur shined in the slits of sunlight that passed over his back. He growled and then spoke, “Are you with Carolyn still, Jack?”

              “No,” he answered deeply.

              “Who are they?” the wolf asked, looking at the rest of us.

              “My daughter, Olivia, and her friends Mason and Milly.”

              “Olivia?” the wolf asked slowly. I watched him circle her freely. He looked up at her, and then went back to eyeing us.

              Jack went to retrieve his knife, and the wolf stopped him. Jack said, “Rolf, you know I can’t live without my knife.”

              “I know,” Rolf said.

              “Your name is Rolf?” Olivia asked coyly.

              The wolf looked up at her and answered, “Yes it is. Rolf Rolon, to be exact.”

              Rolf snapped back to Jack as he picked up his knife quickly. The wolf told him, “You were lying. I bet all of you are with Carolyn.

              “No, we are not!” Jack growled.

              The wolf bent down, ready to pounce, and charged at Jack. Rolf jumped up and took Jack by the sleeve, ripping it off.

              Jack edged him on and said, “Is that the best you got?”

              Rolf growled at him and began to get ready to pounce again.

              “Rolf! Stop! They are the ones I told you to find, trust me, they are not with Carolyn,” I turned to see my grandpa stand up on the ledge of the side of the road.

              On each side of my grandpa were two wolves, which that resembled Rolf. They were different shades of grey and black. They were significantly smaller than Rolf.

              Rolf looked up at Grandpa Brad and said, “He tried to attack me with his knife!”

              “Jack only attacks if he needs to. Trust him more Rolf,” my grandpa told him.

              The four other wolves jumped down and joined the sides of Rolf, and kept watch on us. Grandpa Brad then jumped down and joined us.

              “I am confused,” I told my grandpa, holding my forehead.

              He laughed and answered me, “Rolf, here, is a dear friend of mine.”

              “Oh, so is going to help us?” I asked.

              “Why else would I have left?” my grandpa counter asked.

              I looked at Jack with raised eyebrows and said, “Just what I thought.”

              I smiled at my grandpa and gave him a hug.

              I watched as Rolf took his place, beside Olivia. I could tell, he still resented Jack, yet he stayed close to Olivia. She petted Rolf between the ears, and smiled down at him.

              Jack asked my grandpa, “Brad, what are your plans now?”

              “To keep going down this path,” my grandpa answered him.

              Jack laughed and said, “Good luck, because the path is blocked by this big tree.”

              “And not to mention the wicked vines and falling trees in this path,” Olivia added.

              “Don’t worry about that,” my grandpa said.

              “Why?” I asked.

              “Because, wolves are natural protectors, so the trees won’t fall, and the vines won’t attack if a wolf is nearby,” he answered me.

              He paused then said more, “That is why I was hoping to catch you guys before you hit this road.”

              “So we were supposed to go this way?” I asked shyly.

              “Yep, because the other way is too much of a hassle,” he answered me again.

              “
Told you,
” Jack whispered to me.

              I looked at the wolves and they looked down the path we need to go. They stood in line, right beside each other. I watched my grandpa take place on the back of one of the wolves, and Olivia on Rolf. I followed along, and did as they had done.

              “What are we doing?” I asked.

              Jack answered, “We are riding the wolves back to the tree, I guess.”

              My grandpa said, “I have something that will take the tree out.”

The wind hit my face briskly. I could feel the breeze run through my locks, and the wolf I rode on, was a much smoother ride than my car I had. I relaxed my eyes, trusting the wolf to carry me through the path.

              As I opened my eyes I could feel the wolf trip. He yelped helplessly, as I rolled through the air hitting flat on the ground. I looked up to see the others stop and turn around.

              I looked at the wolf, to make sure he was alright, and seen him stand up shaking off the dirt. He walked over to me, and helped me up. Jack approached us and began looking for whatever it was that tripped us.

              Olivia was the first to ask, “Are you okay?”

              I nodded as I dusted my hands and pants off. Mason looked at my hands, and said, “I am checking for any cuts.”

              “I am fine, I promise,” I grinned at him.

              He embraced me tightly, and I didn’t want him to ever let me go. I looked around and didn’t see anything too obvious, sticking out of the ground. He slowly let go, and joined Jack.

              “Maybe it was a log, underground sticking up, that tripped us,” I told Jack.

              “No, there isn’t anything like that here,” he answered looking down.

              He began kicking at the dirt, throwing dust up in the air. The wolves began sniffing around the area we tripped, sneezing every time the dust got caught up in their noses.

              Jack started to walk back towards the rest of us, and said, “Nothing is here.”

              He caught his foot, and must have hit it hard, because he was quick to yell out in short pain. Mason came up beside him, and dropped to one knee. He wiped the dirt away with his hand and pointed at something metal sticking out of the ground.

              “Treasure!” my grandpa joked.

              After rubbing his toe, Jack knelt down and examined the unknown object. Olivia, my grandpa and I joined them as well. I looked at it and seen it was round. It had tiny little holes wrapped around its core, and made a small buzzing noise, that can barely be heard unless I placed my ear right next to it.

              “Oh, nope. That is not treasure. What is that?” my grandpa asked with a serious tone.

              “It sort of looks like a microphone,” Olivia said with a twinkle in her eye.

              Rolf began sniffing it, and told her, “I wouldn’t try to sing in this, it wouldn’t work that way.”

              “Huh?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, while brushing back her cheek length bangs.

              “This is a camera, I forgot Carolyn had these installed,” Rolf answered.

              I asked Jack, “Did you know about these?”

              He shook his head, “No, she had this done after they made me retire.”

              “She is watching us right now,” Rolf added.

              “What is she planning? Why hasn’t she done anything yet?” my grandpa asked.

              “Who knows, maybe this is her plan. Maybe she intends on trapping us here,” Jack answered.

              Chills ran down my spine after he said that. I wasn’t scared of the creatures of Cumberland; I was more scared about what she would do to us here.

              I held my hands nervously, and Mason surprised me by grabbing my hands in his. My nerves began to settle and then Rolf said, “I hope she isn’t planning a war with us. If she does, I will fight for you guys.”

              “Let’s hope it does not come to that,” my grandpa said.

              “Why? We are just here to save Holden,” I said.

              “You didn’t tell her?” Rolf asked my grandpa. Grandpa Brad shook his no.

              “Tell me what?” I insisted.

              “You’ll find out,” he told me.

              I wanted to press on, but knew arguing at this time would not help our current situation. So I asked him, “Is it about my parents or Holden?”

              He looked at me softly and answered slowly, “It is both.”

              Helping Cumberland creatures had seemed more important to me, because if my parents were in trouble, I would need all the help I could get. I slumped my shoulders, feeling disappointed at my own negative thoughts about if they do not want to help us.

              It was a risk I am willing to take. As I always said before, ‘
prepare for the worst, hope for the best’.

              “There should be more,” Rolf said.

              “More
cameras?
” Olivia asked in a surprised tone.

              “Yes, she put them everywhere. Land, sea and air.”

              “What do we do about them?” my grandpa asked.

              “We take them out,” Rolf answered.

              I looked up at the trees that appeared to be properly rooted, and noticed more cameras above. I followed the trees’ trunks down to the ground and noticed a few more hidden. Behind a bush I noticed a square twine of vines covering something metal.

              I pointed at it and asked Rolf, “What is that? A giant camera?”

              “No, that must be the main power switch,” he answered.

              “They do like to be modern and futuristic in an enchanted land, don’t they?” Olivia rhetorically asked.

              “Do we just leave it alone, and continue our journey?” I asked impatiently.

              “No, in order to stay undercover, we need to destroy it,” Rolf answered.

              “He is right, Milly. I don’t trust what is up Carolyn’s
sleeve
at this point,” my grandpa agreed.

              “What if these don’t work and they are just coy devices to make us think they are working?” I pressed on.

              “Trust me, she would not spend money on something that did not work,” my grandpa said.

              We jumped over the ledge of the road, and headed towards the metal box with determination. The vines were those of the Path of Knowledge.

              The vines slithered around the metal box as we inched closer. Rolf told us, “Stop here. I am going to go up there and get rid of them.”

              I couldn’t help but ask, because I am forgetful if he had already told us this or not, “Why is it only you can talk, and the rest can’t?”

              I felt like a blond when he laughed and said, “Because I used to be human. I told you this. Are you okay?”

              “I think so, I feel a bit light headed,” I said.

              He was about to look away until he eyed my feet. He yelled, “Everyone check your ankles. One has ahold of Milly!”

              The wolf that was my ride, bit the vine off instantly, and caught my side, before I could tip over. I whispered, “
Thank you
.”

              I looked around and said, “That was some trip, whoa!”

              “Yeah, that tends to happen,” my grandpa laughed.

              We waited as the wolves had at it with the vines. Then we approached with caution. I looked at its basic outlay and noticed one, not so basic, thing about it. Instead of the standard pad lock, they put in a keypad entry.

              “What do you think the passcode is?” Olivia wondered.

              “Well, it has to be four digits at least,” Jack answered.

              My grandpa smirked, “Try the twins’ birthday. If Carolyn was the one who put this in, then she would only pick what was most important to her.”

              I typed in zero, eight, one, and three. August thirteenth was their birthday. It dinged twice and read, ‘incorrect code’ across the screen. I asked my grandpa, “What is another code to try?”

              “Not sure,” he shrugged his shoulders.

              “Oh, I might have it. You said ‘
what was most important to her’
right? What about her phone?” I inquired.

              “A woman who has two kids, finds her
phone
more important?” Olivia snooted.

              “Trust me,” my grandpa said.

              I typed in the last four digits of her phone number, and it buzzed once and opened the door to all the switches to every last one of the cameras.

              I saw they were all color coded for each habitat. Blue was for water, brown was for land, and white was for air. I turned all the silver switches in the downward position and changed the passcode to the number of some eighties song.

              “Let’s destroy it,” Jack said, with a menacing smile.

              “Okay,” I agreed.

              I watched as he cut all the wires, except the ones that control the keypad. All of the cameras were now supposed to be turned off. I still couldn’t help but get a feeling that I was being watched.