WHAT'S BEHIND THE MAGIC HEDGE?
Posted on April 2, 2018
Yes, wrote another 5,000 words today. I'm maneuvering Irving and Raggleswamp so they will be making an very important discovery. Here's the lead-in:
As I wandered down the main sidewalk leading to Smudge Hall, I spotted Professor Warhinder walking along a secondary path, one made up of flat stepping stones. She looked severely focused and a little strained, expressions that didn't match her relaxed and freewheeling demeanor. She took determined strides. I watched her move farther and farther away. When the path ended at a head-high hedge of purple bushes, she looked around as if checking to see if she was being observed.
Instinctively, I ducked behind a tree. When I peered around it, she was gone, but I spotted the leaves fluttering in the spot where she'd been standing. Why had she walked through the hedge?
I walked over to the path and then sprinted along it, sailing over the stepping stones two and three at a time.
Before I arrived at the hedge, Lord Raggleswamp came charging across the grass to my left, staring straight at the hedge in question, specifically the spot where Warhinder had entered. He was so targeted on that spot, the villain didn't register me at all.
I slowed down to keep myself behind him and out of his peripheral vision.
Lord Raggleswamp arrived at the spot and probed the hedge with his tail, looking reluctant to enter himself.
It surprised me to see the villain so cautious. This emboldened me to call out to him. "What's up, Raggleswamp?"
He spun about and glared at me. "What are you doing out and about? Don't you have someone better to harass?"
I took my time approaching him, letting him stew in his juices.
Lord Raggleswamp nervously eyed the hedge, appearing quite guilty. Did he suspect I'd seen Warhinder, too?
"I saw her go in," I said.
"Her who, pray tell?"
"Don't play stupid. Warhinder went through the hedge."
"You saw her do so, too? I was rather surprised. She seems like the only faculty with a shred of goodness. Why would she behave so suspiciously?" He thumped the bushes with his tail. "No good lurks behind such an imposing hedge."
"Does that come from experience? Do you hide away nightmares and doomsday devices in oversized topiary?"
"No, but that's an intriguing idea. Maybe there's something to weaponizing a hedge."
"So what do you think is back there?" I asked.
"Only one way to find out." He stepped forward and thrust out his hands to force his way through the hedge. Not a single leaf or branch moved aside.