Off the Path: The Searchers

“We should just leave him out here overnight,” Trixie declared with a scowl, as she stomped along a narrow path in the preserve. “It would serve him right.”

Behind her, Mart twisted to share a look with Dan over his shoulder.

“What’s gotten into you, Trix?” Dan asked, from the rear of the small group. “It’s not like you to be so uncharitable.”

She heaved a sigh and paused to flick the switch on the battery-powered lantern she held. Its light brightened the path at her feet, but deepened the shadows all around. It was debatable whether its presence made things better or worse in the late afternoon gloom.

“Ben’s just been so obnoxious, the whole time he’s been here,” she explained. “He should have known better than to wander out here so close to dark. If Regan hadn’t seen him sneaking away, we might have been searching the whole of Sleepyside, instead of just the woods. And I have better things to do than be looking for him.”

“Don’t we all,” Mart agreed. “But think of the celebration we’ll have when the prodigal is found.”

“If he’s found,” Dan clarified. “And if we don’t wander off the path and get ourselves lost.”

Mart laughed. “That’s why you’re here.”

“Then why am I stuck at the back, while Trixie leads us off into the depths of the Labyrinth?”

“I’m not.” Trixie held the lantern higher and stopped to peer through the trees. “There’s something over that way. Maybe we should check it out.”

She began to forge her own path through the undergrowth, but Dan’s voice called her back.

“Wait. There’s nothing out that way.”

Trixie cast him an impatient look. “Then there’s all the more reason why we should look, because I can definitely see something white through there. It kind of shines.”

“You must be imagining it,” Dan answered. “Stay on the path.”

She spun around to face him, almost stamping her foot in impatience. “You can’t know that. You can’t know every inch of the Labyrinth. There might be anything in there.”

The two faced off for a long moment, Trixie’s curls quivering indignantly, while Dan stood still and silent. At length, he shrugged.

“We’re not anywhere near the Labyrinth,” he admitted. “It’s not even in our part of the search area. And Maypenny’s is a stone’s throw from here. Which means I know this area really well. There’s nothing there.”

Mart glanced from his friend to his sister and then peered out among the trees. “It sure looks like there’s something there. But if we’re really that close to Maypenny’s…”

Dan frowned for a moment, then snatched the lantern from Trixie. “Fine. We’ll check it out. But not from right here. Let me lead the way and we’ll find a closer approach.”

He didn’t wait for them to agree, but pushed past and assumed they would follow. Some minutes later, after taking a faint side-path that neither of the Beldens would even have noticed, they came to a halt.

“Weird,” Dan commented in a low voice. “There shouldn’t be anything out here.”

“Is it Ben?” Trixie asked, pointing. “See? There’s a man just over there. But why isn’t he turning this way? He must be able to see the light and hear us talking.”

Mart shook his head. “That doesn’t look like Ben. And it’s not moving.”

Trixie made a soft sound of comprehension. “A statue. It’s just a statue. But why didn’t anyone know it was here?”

“It’s not here. And we shouldn’t be, either.”

“What? Dan! That makes no sense,” Trixie protested. “I can see the statue, not more than ten paces away.”

“A whole row of statues,” Mart corrected. “Which is decidedly odd, considering that five paces away is a deer feeding station.”

Trixie snatched the lantern from Dan and held it up. The white marble gleamed. Beyond the row of statues lay an open space and a second, similar row. But before she could make out any more details, Mart passed in front of her, blocking her view.

“What are you doing?” Dan demanded, grabbing his friend by the arm.

Mart tried to shake off the restraining grip, without success. “I just have to go there. I won’t be a minute.”

Dan did not hesitate. He took Trixie’s arm with his other hand and dragged both of them away, forging a much wider path as they ran. The lights of Maypenny’s cabin came into view, warm and inviting.

“Thanks,” Mart breathed, as Dan led them inside. “I don’t know what came over me back there.”

“I don’t think we want to find out,” Dan replied.

In the cold light of morning, the three returned to the site of the previous night’s encounter.

“This is definitely where we were, right?” Trixie asked, looking all around the feeding station. “There’s a whole lot of footprints over there, and lots of broken branches and trampled bits where we ran.”

Dan nodded. “Yeah. This is the place.”

“So, where did the statues go?” Mart asked, waving in the direction they had been. “There’s nothing but wilderness in their prior location – including some quite sizable trees.”

“I told you last night: they weren’t there.”

The Belden siblings looked hard at their friend.

“We saw them,” Trixie pointed out.

“They called me to them,” Mart added. “What were they?”

Dan shook his head. “I don’t know.”

The three shared a long look.

“I think you were right last night, Dan,” Trixie decided. “I don’t think we want to find out.”

Mart shuddered. “Agreed.”

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