Chapter 5

Chapter Five IN WHICH There Are Many Riddles and Few Answers To Jared's surprise, their mother agreed to let them go for a short walk. She blamed their constant squabbling on being cooped up inside but, with a single stern look at Jared, made all three promise to be back before dark. Mallory grabbed her fencing sword, Jared got his backpack and a new notebook, and Simon brought a butterfly net from the library. "What is that for?" Mallory asked as they crossed Dulac Drive, following the map.

"To catch things," Simon said, without looking at her directly. "What kind of things? Don't you have enough animals?" Simon shrugged. "You bring home one new creature and I'm feeding it to Byron." "Hey," Jared said, interrupting them. "Which direction?" Simon studied the map, then pointed. Simon, Mallory, and Jared made their way up the steep hillside. Trees were sparse, their trunks growing on a slant between patches of grass and moss-covered boulders. For a long while they just climbed, not really talking. Jared thought that this might be a nice place to bring his sketchbook sometime—but then he remembered that he'd given up on drawing. Near the top of the hill the land leveled out and the trees grew thicker. Simon turned around suddenly and started leading them back down the hill.

"Where are we going?" Jared asked. Simon waved the map at him. "This is the way," he said. Mallory nodded as though she didn't think it was unusual that they were retracing their steps. "Are you sure?" Jared asked. "I don't think so." "I'm sure," Simon said. Right then a summer breeze blew across the hill, and Jared thought he heard a chorus of laughter from beneath their feet. He stumbled and almost fell. "Did you hear that?" "What?" Simon asked, looking around nervously. Jared shrugged. He was sure he had heard something, but now there was only silence.

A little bit down the path Simon changed direction again. He started walking back up and to the right. Mallory followed amiably. "Where are we heading now?" Jared asked. They were going up again, toward the top of the first hill, which was good—but they had been traveling at such an angle that Jared didn't think they could be anywhere close to the meeting spot on the map.

"I know what I'm doing," said Simon. Mallory followed without question, which bothered Jared almost as much as the zigzag pattern Simon was taking. He wished he had the Guide. He tried to go through the pages in his mind, looking for some explanation. He recalled something about people losing their way, even really close to home.... Jared began to poke the grass he stepped on with his shoe. One tall weed scuttled to the side. "Stray sod!" He thought of the entry in the Guide. Suddenly it made sense that only he had noticed they were going in the wrong direction. "Simon! Mallory! Turn your shirts inside out like mine!"

"No," Simon said. "I know the way. Why do you always have to boss me around?" "It's a faerie trick!" Jared yelled. "Forget it. You follow me for a change!" "Just do it, Simon!" "No! Didn't you hear me? No!" Jared tackled his brother, causing both of them to land on the grass. Jared tried to rip off his brother's sweater, but Simon was hugging his arms to his sides.