Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“If you ever need to leave the barrier, just walk away from town in any direction,” Rath told me. “In about twenty or thirty minutes, you’ll find yourself stepping across into the outside world.”
“How will I know it’s the outside world?” I asked curiously. “I mean, what if it just happens to be the same season outside as it is in the bubble when I cross over?”
“You’ll feel a tingling sensation all over your body,” he told me. “And you might see a kind of rainbow shimmer in the air. It’s sort of like stepping through an enormous soap bubble, if that makes any sense.”
It didn’t really, but I guessed I would find out.
And find out, I did—about twenty minutes later. We were walking along, talking—Rath was obviously shortening his long stride so I could keep up with him without running—when suddenly he came to a halt and took a deep breath.
“All right—this is it,” he murmured to me. “Do you see it?”
I squinted my eyes and sure enough, I saw a wavery, rainbow shimmer in the air in front of us. It really did look like a giant soap bubble.
“I see it,” I said, nodding.
“Good. As soon as we cross through the barrier, I’ll state our intentions. Unless you want to be the one to do it?” he added, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh no—please, you do the honors.” I shook my head. “I wouldn’t even know what to say.”
“Basically, we have to let Baba Yaga know that we’re seeking her,” he told me. “She’s spell-bound to let anyone who comes looking for her find her—but it’s up to her how difficult it is for them to get to her.”
“Wow, okay.” I nodded. “I guess we should get to it then.”
“Yes, we should.” He squared his shoulders and reached for my hand. “We need to stay together—visibility might be limited.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I didn’t mind holding his hand, even though his was so big it swallowed mine whole and I felt kind of like a little kid.
“Here we go,” Rath told me. “Come on—we’re going to get you unbound.”
Then he stepped forward and I stepped with him…out of the magical world of Hidden Hollow and into another place altogether.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ibarely felt it when we crossed the barrier. Probably because one minute I was on a sunny dirt path surrounded by trees filled with colored leaves and the crisp Autumn air and the next I was in the middle of a howling blizzard.
“Oh!” I gasped, but the wind tore the sound from my throat and hurdled it away, covering it with its own fierce keening.
The blinding snow blowing in our faces didn’t seem to bother Rath one bit, even though he was bare-chested. He tightened his grip on my hand and with his other hand he raised his enormous war hammer to the sky.
“Baba Yaga!” he roared into the wind. “We come for you! And we do not fear you!”
I stared up at him in awe. His voice seemed to shake the ground. It pierced the wind around us and rose above the howl of the storm, nearly deafening me.
For a moment the blizzard lulled for a moment, then it started blowing even more fiercely than before.
“Come on,” Rath shouted to me. “She’s testing our resolve! We have to show that we’re determined to reach her.”
It was easier said than done. Being a Florida girl most of my life, I wasn’t in any way prepared for the freezing temperatures or the ferocity of the storm. Also, I had no idea where we were. We seemed to be lost in the middle of a forest of skeletal trees, their naked branches whipping in the punishing blasts of wind that buffeted us from all sides.
The snow was deep—and it was difficult to walk through. I kept getting my boots stuck in the deeper drifts or tripping over hidden roots and nearly falling over. Finally, Rath seemed to realize my problem.
“Hold on, baby—I’ve got you,” he shouted to me. And before I could answer, he reached down with his free arm and scooped me up.
He propped me against his side so that my legs went around his waist and I was resting on his hip. It made me feel absurdly like an oversized toddler.
“Hey, you don’t have to carry me!” I protested, speaking right into his pointed ear to be heard.
“Yes, I do,” he growled, sparing me a glance as he forged forward, through the deep snow drifts. “Who knows how long she’ll keep this up? We have to keep going forward if we’re going to get to her. I can’t have you falling behind and freezing to death.”
“Which way are we going, though?” I asked, deciding to give up and let him carry me. He was so strong it didn’t seem to be a problem for him at all.