(Previous chapters 1-16 are available here.)
Arthur awoke. He glanced at Beatrix, who was still fast asleep. He carefully lifted his arm from around her, and stood up. Arthur walked away quietly into the woods.
Beatrix opened her eyes slowly to reveal Arthur sitting beside her, eating some sort of fruit.
“Here” he said. “Try some.”
Beatrix stared at the curious fruit. The outside was a dull gray, but the inside was full of little beads in a spectrum of vibrant colors. She watched as he scraped a handful of the colorful beads into his palm, and ate them.
She reached over and grabbed a handful of the beads, held them up to her face, and looked at them closely. Swirls of color danced inside each one. She popped one into her mouth. “It kind of tastes like pineapple” she said. She ate the rest of the little beads in her hand.
Beatrix and Arthur finished eating the fruit, and continued on their journey. They walked through the woods for what felt like hours. Then, in the distance, the red door came into view. It was camouflaged in the autumn hues of the trees. Arthur stopped walking, and looked around him. “The guardians could be close by” he said. Arthur muttered a short phrase quietly, and with a flash of light, the world grew around them.
Beatrix looked beside her to see that Arthur had once again been transformed into a spider, and so had she. They scurried across the forest floor toward the door, and waited for the guardian. The two spiders sat by each other on a golden leaf of a bush near the door.
The ground began to shake. The spiders stood up; ready to run for the door. The door slowly creaked open, as the creature stepped through. The spiders raced for the door, and ran up and over the threshold. The door slammed shut behind them, blowing large leaves across the dark forest floor.
Spider Arthur muttered the phrase once more, and with a flash of light, the world shrunk to its normal size. Beatrix glanced over at Arthur. Green sparks cascaded to the ground from him, as he looked all around. It was nighttime.
“Look! There!” exclaimed Arthur with excitement. Beatrix glanced at a tree he pointed at, that had a large portion of bark missing. She turned and looked at the trees around it. A path of broken branches, and trees with missing patches of bark trailed through the woods ahead. “I think we found our path!” said Arthur.
Beatrix took a deep breath. She feared what would happen when she reached the cave.
Arthur and Beatrix followed the trail of damaged trees and brush through the forest. The moon began to fade, and the sun slowly rose in the sky as they walked. Morning approached as they made their way through the woods. They had been walking for what felt like hours. Beatrix saw a patch of curious orange flowers ahead. “We are getting close” she said; remembering the patch of flowers from the vision the cuckoo tree had shown her.
They continued following the trail of broken branches, and there it was - the cave! They walked up to the cave’s entrance. Cold air emanated from the cave’s blackness.
Beatrix looked at Arthur, and he looked at her.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Beatrix gazed into the void of darkness. She hoped to find her mother and father inside.
With the look of determination in her eyes, she looked at Arthur and said, “I’m ready.”
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