Chapter 11

Previously:

"One more thing before I read you back," Mo said as he turned Hansel around so that he was facing him. "Did you ever curse those creepy men?"

Hansel pumped his head. "Oh yes I did. They don't get away with threatening me so easily. I said that in less than a week, they would get into a fire accident, the same curse as the one I gave your boyfriend," he pointed at Meggie, "and they would all die."

"Let me guess, they are no longer in this world as well?" Meggie said testily.

"No, they are still here, and I know where they are." Hansel said in a quieter voice.

"Where?" They all asked simultaneously.

"There." Hansel pointed towards the pantry window and everybody turned around and for the second time that day, they all froze.

"Oh, you spoiled it, kid." Cockerell said as he put down his foot. He was about to kick the door open, but now, since the cat was already out of the bag, he just used the regular, old method of opening doors – turning the door knob.

Everybody in the room stood up and watched silently as Cockerell entered as well as Flatnose who stood on Cockerell's shoulder, looking like a miniature devil with a flat nose and Basta, who was holding a knife and moving his mouth. No sound came out. The scene is almost laughable if you forget about the guns held by Cockerell and that knife that had convinced a lot of people that it was not fake glimmering in the afternoon sun.

Mo moved a fraction of a step.

"Don't even think about it!" Cockerell sneered. "We are not alone here. There is a team of…What did the boss called them?" He paused to listen to Flatnose's whisper, "Oh yes, gangs, oh? Not a team… but anyways, I'm really supposed to tell you that…"

Basta clubbed him over the head with the hilt of the knife. Then, he motioned for Cockerell to circle behind the group so they can surround them.

"Boss?" Meggie couldn't help herself, "What boss?"

"Oh, we've found someone in this world who wants to hire us. He has the same ability as Silvertongue and his daughter, you see, and he wants...Ow, ow…okay." Cockerell started to explain, but was interrupted by Flatnose who pulled on his hair.

"Remember, no explaining!" Flatnose said with his high-pitched voice. "Boss' order."

"Right." Cockerell muttered. Now, he was completely behind the group and Basta started to lead them out of the tiny kitchen. Then, he stopped suddenly and whirled around, motioning with his knife and mouthing the words.

"Okay guys, sit back down. I can't see my leader." Cockerell said as he poked his gun at Mo's back. Obediently, everybody sat. Hansel stole another cookie off of the tray that Elinor had set down on the table top when Cockerell burst in.

"What?" Cockerell was trying to understand what Basta wanted to say. "O Bog?"

"No no, it's 'The log!" Flatnose corrected.

"The…mmm….fog? Oh? It's not it? Then...frog? Dog? Hog? Fog? …no, I already said that…what else rhyme with fog?" Cockerell thought out aloud. Basta clubbed him over the head again and shook his head furiously.

"Mmm…I don't understand you," Flatnose stretched his arms to his side and turned his palms up – the universal body language for 'I don't know what the heck you are trying to say'.

"He was trying to say 'The Book' you idiots! Gosh, listening to you guys talk is a pain of it's own! If you want to kill us, just kill us already! Just don't torture us with your dumb conversation…or the lack of one." Elinor cried out with frustration. Only after she said what she had, did she realize that it was not a great idea to give them a clue. Mo glared at her viciously but did not comment.

Basta was nodding and pointing to Elinor but ignored the insult. Cockerell smacked his own forehead and said, "Right, boss, The Book." He turned to face his little audience, "Well, you heard the boss, he wants the book, now where is Inkheart?"

"I have it in my shop." Mo said finally. "I'll go and get it, just don't hurt anyone."

"You are not going anywhere. Where is your shop?" Cockerell asked nastily.

"Down in the garden, you passed it on the way here." Mo said innocently. His heels made small movements as he tried to kick Inkheart beneath the sofa a bit more. He just wants to buy them some time so that Resa would know what happened down here and hope that she would call for help.

"Down by the garden…" Cockerell repeated as his brain registered and processed what Mo just said. "Oh shoot…" He dashed towards the door and poked his head out of the frame. "Hey you idiots, stop that fire! We need that shad…shade?"

"Shed." Elinor corrected. "It's almost a crime that he is calling somebody else an 'idiot'." She muttered under her breath.

Suddenly, they all heard sirens getting closer and closer. At first, Basta and his gangs didn't know what the sound was or where it was coming from. Then suddenly, Cockerell remembered, "It's that sound that Big Boss played on that tape when he tried to tell us what to do, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Flatnose added, "we are supposed to leave I think."

"We don't have enough time then." Cockerell said, "Shall we just take the girl and her father?"

Basta thought for a minute and nodded. Without another word, the three captors took the two selected hostages and hustled them out of the door. Within minutes, they disappeared over the fence, toward the ocean.

For five full minutes, nobody moved, not even Hansel who had a cookie half-chewed in his mouth. Then, Elinor broke down in Darius' arms and sobbed. "I knew we should have moved after Meggie's incident at sea, but Mo won't listen, he said that without Capricorn, Basta and his gangs have no other reason to attack us if they don't know that we have Inkheart."

"No, honey, it's n..not your f..fault, nor is it M..Mortimer's." Darius gently and awkwardly hugged Elinor's thin frame. Looking around, he realized that the boy, Hansel was still here and Resa had came downstairs, with a copy of Hansel and Gretel, but there is nobody to read the boy back in safely.

Reaching underneath the sofa, Hansel brought out Inkheart and dusted the cover.

"I suppose you are going to bolt now that you have what you wanted." Darius said bitterly.

"No, I think not." Hansel said and turned to Resa. "I like you Ma'am and I want to help you. My curse with Meggie still stands so I would be able to trace her wherever she is. I also know the password to Mo's safe in his shop; that is, if it still recognizable. Inside Mo's safe, there is Inkspell, which we might want to bring along as well."

Resa nodded encouragingly. Taking a piece of paper, she wrote, 'I appreciate it a lot that you are helping us, Hansel'

Hansel smiled shyly and said, "No worries, I need at least one of the Silvertongues, by the sound of things, to get back home."

By this time, Elinor had stopped sobbing and was listening to the conversations dispite of the wail of sirens outside. "Okay, here is the plan. Hansel, you take us to wherever they took Mo and Meggie. We'll have to kidnap them back because we can't possibly get the police or any army forces involved. Who would have believed us? Then, we got to find out why Fenoglio sent us Inkspell. Somebody got to read the story...Then, once we get Meggie and Mo back, we'll read Hansel back into his own world and hopefully, Farid out of whatever story he is in, and…mm…" She trailed off.

"Sounds confusing." The boy said. "Anyways, we can come up with a decent plan while we are traveling. However, somebody has to deal with whoever that scared those creepy men away."

"Yes, I'll cover that." Elinor stood up. "Resa could pack and you," she pointed at Hansel. "you can help by getting us Inkspell and don't you even think about running after you've gotten your hands on both of the books. God knows how many cookies you own Resa."

The boy smirked. "Don't worry, I won't betray your trust and I promise."

That was one promise that Elinor does not count on.

*

Meggie was dreaming again. She was standing in a meadow. Far away, there was a ruin that once was a beautiful castle. She shifted her gaze and saw Farid, walking towards her while smiling. Her heart did a double flip and seemed to heal itself. She rushed towards Farid as if he was the only source of light in a dark tunnel. She could hear Farid's laughter as he too, rushed toward her. She could also hear the sound of waves, crashing against something.

Ocean.

Why would there be ocean in this peaceful meadow. Suddenly, the scene changed and she was back on that night when she almost drowned. However, instead of being limp in her father's arms, she was standing a few feet in front of Farid.

His face looked so pale and sad. He reached out as Mo took her own limp form in his strong arms and lifted her up. He reached and grasped her cold forearm, then her tiny wrist and finally, her frozen fingers. There was no response from her. He knew that she needed help and she probably is going to die. Nobody can survive the cold ocean for that long. He remembered that there was no breathing when he was doing the CPR and that might be the first time and the last time he would ever kiss her.

So cold and freezing, she looked like a ghost and he doubted that he would be able to rekindle her fire. On that beach that night, reality came crashing down upon Farid. Dustfinger was gone, now Meggie. Even the fire on his palms that usually comforted Farid on the loneliest days seems to be unfriendly and cold.

As Mo moved away, Farid's first thought was that Mo was taking Meggie away from him. Don't go! His mind screamed. Don't go, Meggie! Not when I had just find you again after such long years. However, his mouth did not move and no sound came out.

Kneeling on the beach with crashing waves pushing at his back, he was tempted to run after Mo. It was then he realized something about himself that he never dared to acknowledge, something that would hurt him a lot. "I…I love you, Meggie. I love you. Why did you die? Why didn't I tell you this earlier?" He whispered and buried his face in his hands. When he looked up, Mo had already disappeared.

Slowly, he struggled to stand up. He could not face the fact of Meggie's death, nor the fact that if he went back to the house again, he would have to see Meggie's deathly pale face that would probably haunt his future dreams. He can't believe his bad luck. Moving seemed to be an impossible thing at that time, but somehow, he managed it and started to walk away in the opposite direction of Meggie's house.

Meggie, seeing all this and feeling it all too, was stunned and shocked. Reaching out, she attempted to grab Farid to tell him that she was alive, but her arms couldn't move. In fact, it was pinned to her back. She tried to run after him, but she couldn't either. Looking down at her feet, she only saw blackness of the ocean. Looking back up again, Farid was gone and her dream, along with her heart, shattered into pieces.

I was tired of all those action plots, just thought to throw in some more romance in the mix. Hopefully, you've enjoyed this chapter.

Until next chapter,

Rain Kisses

Sorceress Shadow Rain