Free The Magic Lands by Mark Hockley Page B

find a place to
make camp."
    Shortly afterward they were
settled down under the cover of several large beech trees, Dredger
having decided that the surrounding foliage would provide adequate
cover.
    What if the
Wolf comes? whispered a voice in Tom's head and then
he remembered the beautiful girl who had called herself little Bo
Peep. And even though he knew he had only ever seen her in his
dreams, something made him sure that she was more than just his
imagination. He wished he could see her again. Once more he found
himself confused and unsure. Could a dream girl be real? Or was he
just completely mad? After all that had happened, that didn’t seem
so unlikely.
    But as Mo had said, there
were no rules here. Anything
goes , Tom thought, but the notion disturbed him
vaguely. Who can you trust when anything
goes?
    "Take heed," announced Dredger,
ending Tom's reflections, "I will keep watch while you sleep and
then Mo will take over whilst I rest."
    "When do I take my turn?"
enquired Jack, ready to do his bit.
    Dredger regarded the boy with
distaste. "Do not be a fool, boy. You are not fit to stand guard.
The Wolf would eat you and spit out your bones before you could
even utter a sound."
    Jack glowered at the man and
was just about to tell him exactly what he thought of him, when Mo
interrupted. "Thank you for volunteering, Jack, but Dredger and I
can manage. You need more rest than we do, I think." The badger
gave him a reassuring look and Jack decided, a little begrudgingly,
to remain silent.
    Going over to where Tom sat
leaning against the trunk of one of the beech trees, Jack gave a
moody look in Dredger's direction before whispering to his friend.
"I don't like him," he said, nodding sideways at the man who now
stood like some pompous stone statue, one hand behind his back,
staring out into the night.
    "I know," replied Tom.
    "It shows then?" joked the
other boy.
    Tom laughed and put his hand
over his mouth to suppress the sound. They both glanced briefly at
Dredger but he stood quite still, obviously in his on-guard
position.
    "What happened back there, you
know at the archway?" Jack asked after a moment.
    Tom shrugged. "I was going to
ask you the same thing."
    "I don’t know about you, but I
just don’t get any of this," Jack admitted, "one second we were
looking at the mirror, the next this Dredger is standing there.
Where did he come from?"
    "Didn't you see anything?" Tom
questioned, more puzzled than before.
    "It just seemed to happen all
at once," Jack muttered. "And it gave me a splitting headache!"
    "Sometimes I think we're both
dreaming," Tom said.
    "Great minds dream alike!" his
friend offered with a grin.
    "I really am sleepy," murmured
Tom, deciding he would tell Jack his version of events at the
archway after they had rested. He was really just too tired to go
into it now. They both lay down on the soft earth, their hands
behind their heads. Tom wasn't sure how long they had been
travelling and with the day and night having no set pattern it was
impossible to keep accurate time. It was as Mo said, time was not
the same here, this world not subject to Man's laws. Gazing over at
the old badger, Tom quite suddenly felt an unexpected sadness
befall him. It was strange, how they had come to depend on the
animal so quickly. But Tom trusted him and was glad they had at
least one friend in this alien world.
    Oh Uncle Ira, where are you?
Are you in the garden? Are you searching for us?
    Tom turned toward his friend,
who now lay with his eyes half closed awaiting sleeps arrival,
ready to be swept away on the tide of dreams. "How long do you
think night lasts here?" Jack asked softly.
    Tom let his eyes find the
shadowy sky through the branches of the trees above them.
    There are no stars. No sun or
moon.
    "Go to sleep," he said softly
and saw that Jack already had. Tom shut his own eyes and allowed
his mind to drift wherever it wished. Across dark lands and through
pale skies.
    He was in an orchard. An