friend before we reached the castle. If there was even a castle. Maybe everything he’d said was a lie.
And how about meeting up with his friend? Was that planned? Nothing made sense. If James had wanted to hurt me, he could have done it back at the house. There was no reason for him to go through so much effort. For some reason he wanted me in his world, but I had no idea why.
I looked first at the tall trees around me. Not a single one had low enough branches for me to climb, so I looked to the ground instead. I found a hole big enough for me and jumped into it, squeezing between the large complex roots that took up most of the space. I covered myself up the best I could with leaves before glancing up at the slowly darkening sky.
“Ainsley?” James called out lightly. “Are you okay?”
I ignored him. Hopefully he’d give up easily.
“Ainsley?”
I heard the crunching of leaves and sticks. He was getting closer.
“Ainsley?” The crunching got louder, and his voice came from right above me. “Come on, please do not play around. We have to go.”
I held my breath. If he looked down he’d see me. And I couldn’t let that happen.
The crunching started again, and I heard another voice. “Did you find her? Where could she have gone?” Nathaniel asked.
“This is your fault. You scared her.”
“No. You cannot lay blame on me because your ill thought out plan blows up in your face.”
“I had no time to formulate a better plan.”
“You care about her?”
“It does not matter now. We have to find her.” James sounded panicked, but it could have been for a million reasons. None were worth me going along with him again. I needed to get home. “She must have gone back to the gate. All that kidnapping talk spooked her.”
“Should I wait here in case she returns?”
“Yes. If you find her, take her back to your farmhouse. I will check back with you.”
“Good luck. I hope you find her easily, and she is not too angry with you.”
“Right now my only concern is finding her.”
Their voices disappeared.
Now what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t go back to the gate because he’d be waiting. I was going to have to wait him out. The hole wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t awful. I didn’t have a coat, and it was already getting cold. I would likely be freezing by nightfall. But not so freezing I’d die. Uncomfortable beat death any day. I moved from my knees into a fully sitting position. I was going to be there awhile.
* * *
THE WOODS WERE silent except for the occasional bird chirping. The few birds I saw were brightly colored red and blue with crests of other bright hues. I wondered what other animals were out there. Hopefully nothing big. James hadn’t seemed nervous about wildlife, and I hoped that was because there was nothing to worry about here. That hope disappeared when the sound of a howl filled the night. I closed my eyes until it faded away. I hoped whatever it was would move far away, but creaking and whooshing noises continued. I flashed back to a Halloween night as a kid when my friends and I snuck into an abandoned house. Every squeaky floor board had us screaming. I only hoped these noises turned out to be nothing more than the wind in the trees like the abandoned house experience.
Time passed, and the sky grew darker and darker. As I’d predicted, the temperature dropped. I wondered if James still had my bag and coat. Would he toss them when he discovered he couldn’t find me? It didn’t matter. If I could get back home I could replace everything.
I fought my eyes as they longed to shut. I couldn’t afford to fall asleep. I needed to be ready to run at any second. I still didn’t have a plan, but I would make one. I would survive this. Somehow.
I felt a sudden pain in my ankle and looked down. Everything was dark in the hole. I tried to move my leg in order to see better, but it wouldn’t budge. Something tightened around it. I felt another sharp pain in my other ankle. Once again I couldn’t move it. I used my arm to try to move my legs, nothing. I reached down, half expecting to find a snake coiling around me, but it was hard, not the soft body of