Witch and Wizard_ The Fire - James Patterson [34]
“No!” I shout. “Wait!” But the image has vanished completely, and the lid reflects my own horrified face in its place .
Wisty’s voice comes out in a whisper. “They’re alive. And they want us to just do nothing?” I can see she’s close to losing it.
“Mrs. Highsmith” — I turn to the old witch, suddenly angry at her for not giving us the guidance she’d promised —“you think I care what they said about staying away? We’re obviously going there. Will you help us find the portal, or are we on our own?”
Mrs. H. looks like she’s got a million other secrets she’ll never reveal. “There will come a time in your lives, Whitford and Wisteria, when you have to make your own decisions, when you have to go your own way, when you have to disobey the injunctions of your parents.” She peers into our faces, eyes bright.
“I’m thrilled you understand that that time is now.”
Chapter 34
Wisty
“NOW EAT UP, children, I’ve a plan.”
Mrs. H. puts two steaming bowls of the gruel in front of us. It looks and smells like cat food, but whatever. Whit eats a spoonful and then pushes the rest of the bowl away while trying not to make a puke face. I think I’ll pass on mine. We’re not here for the food anyway.
“Listen very closely, dears. If not followed explicitly, this plan could easily result in your deaths.”
Well. At least she’s being straight with us.
“Whitford, I understand that you have experience in the depths of the Shadowland.” Whit nods, and Mrs. H.’s eyes bore into him.
“Look ahead. Your vision will serve you well, young man, as you journey to this foul place of writhing, hungry spirits. The labyrinth will deceive you, but you must navigate the depths of the soul to find your parents. Follow the animals to the river, and love will meet you there.”
Whatever that means.
Whit looks like he doesn’t totally speak Mrs. H.’s language of soul riddles, but he nods solemnly anyway.
I, on the other hand, am already getting annoyed. Our parents are out there in some Shadowland abyss, and I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to learn about the meaning of life before we find them.
Still, when Mrs. H. turns to me, I find I’m holding my breath. “And you, Wisteria, have the greatest task of all. I’m afraid your trip will be arduous, your task mammoth, and the odds overwhelmingly stacked against you.”
She pauses meaningfully, and I lean forward. “Anything,” I say. “I’ll do it.” Now that I know they’re alive, every fiber of my being aches to see Mom and Dad.
Mrs. H. beams at me. “It is you, and you alone, who must deal with The One Who Is The One. Now.”
Wait, what? My spoon clatters to the floor. The One, as in the all-powerful One who’s been trying to track us down and skewer us for months?
“You’re not serious.” I stare at her in horror, my jaw hanging open like a guppy’s.
Mrs. H. nods expectantly.
“Our parents are on the verge of death, here,” I protest, incredulous. “And while Whit gets to go traipsing after them in the Shadowland — which I have experience in, too, by the way — I’m supposed to just … what? Knock on the door of the most powerful being in the Overworld and then … ‘deal with’ him?” I’m shouting now.
Mrs. Highsmith looks me over with quiet disapproval, and then she says something totally whackjob: “Tell me, Wisteria, do you remember anything, anything at all, from your Biology 101 class? How about physics? Chemistry? No? I should have expected as much from a truant.”
I shudder involuntarily at the familiar words. It’s practically the exact same thing The One said to me back at his pad, forever-and-a-day ago, when I was supposed to be proving myself as a witch. Mrs. Highsmith cocks an eyebrow, and I’m speechless.
Just what exactly is going on here?
I glare at her. “Look, if you want to focus on the past, fine. In the past, we’ve seen The One control water and air and the earth. We’ve watched him empty oceans, whip up tornadoes, and split open the ground with a flick of his pinky finger. How is anyone supposed to fight that?”
Mrs. H. nods and holds my face in her hands, and I feel like I’m