47 - Legend of the Lost Legend (4 page)

She slammed the cabin door shut.

Pressed her back against the door.

“I’ve
caught
you!” she shrieked. And tossed back her head in an ugly
cackle of triumph.

Her cruel laugh ended in a cough. Her green eyes sparkled at us, reflecting
the candlelight. She stared at us hungrily.

“Let us go!”

Those were the words I
wanted
to shout.

But when I opened my mouth, only a tiny squeak slipped out.

Marissa moved first. She dove for the door. I forced my rubbery legs into
action, and followed close behind.

“Let us out!” I finally managed to scream. “You can’t keep us here!”

The big woman’s smile faded. “Take it easy, kids,” she boomed. She had a
loud, deep voice. “I was just kidding.”

Marissa and I both gaped at her. “Excuse me?” I cried.

“Sorry. I have a bad sense of humor,” the woman said. “I guess it comes from
living out here in the middle of the forest. I can’t resist a really mean joke.”

I still didn’t understand. “You mean you didn’t lock us in?” I demanded in a
trembling voice. “You haven’t captured us?”

She shook her head. The horns on the helmet moved with her head. She suddenly
reminded me of a large, gray bull.

“I haven’t captured you. I sent Silverdog so that I could
help
you.”
She pointed toward the stove.

I saw that the big white dog had dropped down beside it. He lowered his head,
licking a big front paw. But he kept his eyes on Marissa and me.

My sister and I stayed near the door. This woman was strange. And kind of
terrifying.

She was so big and loud. And powerful-looking. And those green eyes flashed
and danced wildly beneath the horned helmet.

Is she totally crazy? I wondered.

Did she really bring us here to help us?

“I know everything that happens in this forest,” she said mysteriously. She
raised the jeweled medallion close to her face and stared into it. “I have ways
of seeing things. Nothing escapes me.”

I glanced at Marissa. Her eyes were wide with fright. Her hand reached for
the cabin door.

Back by the stove, Silverdog yawned. He lowered his head between his paws.

“What are your names?” the woman boomed. She let the heavy medallion drop
back onto her chest. “My name is Ivanna.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Do you
know what
Ivanna
means?”

I cleared my throat. “Uh… no,” I replied.

“I don’t, either!” the woman exclaimed. She tossed back her head in another
cackling laugh. The medallion bounced on her chest. Her helmet nearly toppled
off her blond hair.

Despite the warmth of the small kitchen, I shivered. We had walked so far
through the cold forest. I couldn’t shake off the chill.

“You two look half-frozen,” Ivanna said, studying our faces. “I think I know
what you need. Hot soup. Sit down.” She motioned to a small wooden table with
two chairs in the corner of the room.

Marissa and I hesitated. I didn’t want to leave the door. I knew we both were
still thinking of making a run for it.

“Our dad…” Marissa murmured. “He’ll be looking for us. He might be here—any minute.”

Ivanna stepped over to the stove. “Why didn’t you bring him along?” she
asked. She pulled down two bowls from a cabinet.

“We couldn’t wake him up,” I blurted out.

Marissa glared at me.

“A heavy sleeper, huh?” Ivanna had her back to us. She was ladling soup from
the black pot into the two bowls.

I leaned close to Marissa. “If we want to escape, now is our chance,” I
whispered.

She turned to the door, then swung back. “I’m so cold,” she whispered. “And
the soup smells so good.”

“Sit down,” Ivanna ordered in her deep, booming voice.

I led the way to the small wooden table. Marissa and I sat down on the hard
chairs.

Ivanna set the steaming bowls in front of us. Her green eyes lit up as she
smiled. “Hot chicken noodle soup. It will warm you and get you ready for your
test.”

“Huh? Test?” I cried. “What test?”

“Eat. Eat,” Ivanna ordered. “Warm yourselves.” She stepped back to the stove.

I watched her bend to pet Silverdog’s head. Then I raised the soup spoon to
my mouth. Blew on it. And swallowed a mouthful.

Delicious.

And it felt so warm and soothing on my dry throat.

I took a few more spoonfuls. Then I glanced across the table. Marissa seemed
to be enjoying it too.

I had raised a spoonful of noodles nearly to my mouth—when Ivanna spun
toward us from the sink. Her eyes went wide. Her mouth dropped open.

She pointed at us with a trembling finger. “You—you haven’t eaten any of it—
have
you?” she demanded.

“Huh?” Marissa and I both gasped.

“Whatever you do, don’t eat it!” Ivanna cried. “I—I just remembered. It’s
poison
!”

The spoon dropped from my hand and splashed into the bowl. I grabbed my
stomach, waiting for the pain to begin.

I glanced over at Marissa—and saw her roll her eyes. “Another joke?”
Marissa asked Ivanna.

“Another joke!” Ivanna confessed gleefully. Once again, she roared with
laughter.

I swallowed hard. Why didn’t I guess it was another one of the woman’s mean
jokes? I hate it when Marissa catches on to things before I do!

“I knew it all along,” I muttered.

Ivanna stepped up to the table, the medallion bouncing as she walked. “The
soup isn’t poison. But don’t eat it yet,” she instructed. “I want to read the
noodles.”

“Excuse me?” I replied.

She leaned over my bowl, bringing her face so close that the steam misted her
cheeks. “Chicken soup noodles foretell your fate,” she whispered mysteriously.

She studied the noodles in my bowl. Then she studied Marissa’s. “Hmmmm.
Hmmmm,” she kept repeating. “Yes. Hmmmm hmmmm.”

Finally, she stood up and crossed her powerful arms over her chest. Her
cheeks were red from the hot steam off the soup.

“Eat. Eat your soup now,” she instructed. “Before it gets cold.”

“What did you see?” I asked. “In the noodles. What did they tell you?”

Her expression turned solemn. “You must take the test in the morning,” she
replied. “I was right. I know why you have come to the forest. I know what you
seek.”

She straightened the helmet on her head. “I can help you. I can help you find
it. But first you must take the test.”

“Uh… what kind of test?” I asked.

Her eyes flashed. “A
survival
test,” she replied.

I swallowed hard. “I was afraid of that,” I muttered.

“What if we don’t
want
to take your survival test?” Marissa demanded.

“Then you will
never
find the silver chest!” Ivanna declared heatedly.

I gasped. “Wow! You
do
know what we’re looking for!” I exclaimed.

She nodded. “I know everything in this forest.”

“But—but we need our dad!” Marissa stammered.

Ivanna shook her head. “There is no time. You will take the test in his
place. Do not worry. It is not a difficult test. If you stay alive.”

“Huh? If we
stay alive
? Is that one of your jokes?” I asked weakly.

“No,” Ivanna replied, shaking her head. “No joke. I never joke about the test
in the Fantasy Forest.”

I was holding the soup spoon. But I let it fall to the table. “Fantasy
Forest? Where’s that? What is it?”

Ivanna opened her mouth to answer. But before she could say a word, the cabin
door burst open.

I felt a blast of cold air.

And then a wild creature, covered in black fur, scrabbled into the room on
all fours. Snarling, it cast its bulging black eyes around the room.

Then it snapped its jagged teeth—and, with a hoarse growl, leaped to attack
me.

I uttered a scream—and tried to dodge out of the way.

My chair fell, and I fell with it.

The chair clattered noisily onto the floorboards. I landed on my side.

I tried to roll away. But the snarling creature sank its teeth into my leg.

“Owwww!” I shrieked.

Over my cry, I heard Ivanna’s booming shouts: “Down, Luka! Get down! Off,
Luka! Get off!”

The wild creature gurgled. It let go of my leg. And backed away, breathing
hard.

As I scrambled to my feet, I stared at the panting creature. It had a man’s
face. Hunched on its hind legs, it looked almost human. Except that it was
covered with thick, black fur.

“Get back, Luka!” Ivanna screamed. “Back!”

The creature obediently inched back.

“Don’t be scared of Luka,” Ivanna said, turning to me. “He’s a good boy.”

“What—what
is
he?” I cried, rubbing my leg.

“I’m not sure,” Ivanna replied, grinning at the furry thing.

Luka hopped up and down, grinning, making grunting sounds.

“He was brought up by wolves,” Ivanna said. “But he’s a good boy. Aren’t you,
Luka?”

Luka nodded. His tongue hung out of his open mouth. He panted like a dog.

Ivanna petted his long, shaggy hair.

He broke away from her and charged at me again. He sniffed my sweatshirt and
jeans. Then he crawled under the table and sniffed Marissa’s hiking boots.

“Get away, Luka!” Ivanna ordered. “Off! Off!” She turned to me. “He’s a good
boy. He’s just nosy. He’ll calm down—once he gets to know you.”

“Gets to know us?” Marissa demanded, watching Luka scurry over to Silverdog
by the stove.

“Luka will be a big help to you when you enter the Fantasy Forest,” Ivanna
said with a smile.

“He’s coming with us?” I cried.

Ivanna nodded. “He will be your guide. And he will protect you.” Her
expression turned solemn. Then she added softly, “You need all the help you can
get.”

We finished our soup quickly. Silverdog and Luka watched us from beside the
stove.

When we finished, Ivanna led us to a small back room. The room was bare
except for two cots.

“You will sleep here,” she said sternly.

“But our dad—” Marissa started.

Ivanna raised a hand to silence her. “You want to find the silver chest—don’t you? You want to surprise your father and make him proud—don’t you?”

Marissa and I nodded.

“Then you will take the test. If you pass it, I will tell you how to find the
chest.”

She dropped a coarse wool blanket onto each cot. “Sleep quickly,” she
instructed. “The test begins first thing in the morning.”

I awoke slowly. Stretched. Turned and reached to push the blanket off me.

No blanket.

Had I kicked it onto the floor?

I blinked several times, trying to clear the sleep from my eyes.

How long had I slept?

Sunlight streamed all around.

Yawning, I sat up. Started to climb off the cot.

But the cot had disappeared, too.

“Hey—!” I cried out when I realized the cabin had also disappeared.

“Where am I?”

I was sitting on the grass, fully dressed. I blinked, waiting for my eyes to
adjust to the bright morning sunlight. The grass still shimmered wetly from the
morning dew.

I stood up. My mouth dry. Feeling stunned.

Nothing but forest all around.

My mind whirled. Ivanna had said the test would begin first thing in the
morning.

Had it already begun? Was I in the Fantasy Forest?

Had the test begun
before
I awoke?

Rubbing my eyes, I turned to Marissa. “Where are we?” I asked, my voice still
hoarse from sleep. I cleared my throat. “Do you think—”

I stopped with a gasp when I realized Marissa wasn’t there.

I was alone.

Alone in the middle of the forest.

“Marissa—?” I called, feeling the panic tighten my chest. Where
was
she?

Where was
I
?

“Marissa—? Marissa—?”

“Marissa—?”

My voice cracked. My throat tightened.

I heard a low growl from the trees. The thud and crackle of heavy animal
footsteps.

I turned to the sound. And watched Luka come hopping out of the forest. He
stood on his two feet like a man. But he hopped like a rabbit. Scratching the
thick fur on one leg, he grinned at me as he came near.

I didn’t grin back. “Where is Marissa?” I demanded. “Where is my sister?”

He tilted his head and stared at me, confused.

“Marissa!” I screamed at him. “Where is Marissa?”

“Over here!”

I jumped when her voice leaped out at me. “Where are you?” I called.

I saw a flash of her red hair. Then she poked her head out from behind a
wide, leafy bush.

“Over here,” she repeated. “You were still asleep. So I thought I’d explore.”

“You scared me to death!” I admitted. I began trotting through the tall grass
and weeds, eager to join her. “Where are we?” I demanded. “What happened to
Ivanna’s cabin?”

Marissa shrugged. “Beats me. I woke up—and here we were.”

Behind us, Luka growled.

I turned and saw him pawing the dirt, like a dog. “Do you think he’s part
human?” I whispered to Marissa.

She didn’t seem to hear me. She pointed to a spot between two trees. “I found
a path over there. Do you think we’re supposed to follow it?”

“I don’t know
what
we’re supposed to do,” I replied shrilly. “Did
Ivanna ever explain the test? No. Did she ever tell us the rules? No. Did she
ever tell us what we’re supposed to do to
pass
the test? No.”

Marissa’s eyes narrowed in fear. “I think we’re supposed to stay alive,” she
said softly. “I think that’s how we pass the test.”

“But where do we go? What do we do?” I cried. I could feel myself start to
lose control. I felt angry and frightened and confused—all at the same time.