Cumberland (Not A Dream Book 1) Read online

  “Maybe it was a log, underground sticking up, that tripped us,” I told Jack.

  “No, there isn’t anything like that here,” he answered looking down.

  He began kicking at the dirt, throwing dust up in the air. The wolves began sniffing around the area we tripped, sneezing every time the dust got caught up in their noses.

  Jack started to walk back towards the rest of us, and said, “Nothing is here.”

  He caught his foot, and must have hit it hard, because he was quick to yell out in short pain. Mason came up beside him, and dropped to one knee. He wiped the dirt away with his hand and pointed at something metal sticking out of the ground.

  “Treasure!” my grandpa joked.

  After rubbing his toe, Jack knelt down and examined the unknown object. Olivia, my grandpa and I joined them as well. I looked at it and seen it was round. It had tiny little holes wrapped around its core, and made a small buzzing noise, that can barely be heard unless I placed my ear right next to it.

  “Oh, nope. That is not treasure. What is that?” my grandpa asked with a serious tone.

  “It sort of looks like a microphone,” Olivia said with a twinkle in her eye.

  Rolf began sniffing it, and told her, “I wouldn’t try to sing in this, it wouldn’t work that way.”

  “Huh?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, while brushing back her cheek length bangs.

  “This is a camera, I forgot Carolyn had these installed,” Rolf answered.

  I asked Jack, “Did you know about these?”

  He shook his head, “No, she had this done after they made me retire.”

  “She is watching us right now,” Rolf added.

  “What is she planning? Why hasn’t she done anything yet?” my grandpa asked.

  “Who knows, maybe this is her plan. Maybe she intends on trapping us here,” Jack answered.

  Chills ran down my spine after he said that. I wasn’t scared of the creatures of Cumberland; I was more scared about what she would do to us here.

  I held my hands nervously, and Mason surprised me by grabbing my hands in his. My nerves began to settle and then Rolf said, “I hope she isn’t planning a war with us. If she does, I will fight for you guys.”

  “Let’s hope it does not come to that,” my grandpa said.

  “Why? We are just here to save Holden,” I said.

  “You didn’t tell her?” Rolf asked my grandpa. Grandpa Brad shook his no.

  “Tell me what?” I insisted.

  “You’ll find out,” he told me.

  I wanted to press on, but knew arguing at this time would not help our current situation. So I asked him, “Is it about my parents or Holden?”

  He looked at me softly and answered slowly, “It is both.”

  Helping Cumberland creatures had seemed more important to me, because if my parents were in trouble, I would need all the help I could get. I slumped my shoulders, feeling disappointed at my own negative thoughts about if they do not want to help us.

  It was a risk I am willing to take. As I always said before, ‘prepare for the worst, hope for the best’.

  “There should be more,” Rolf said.

  “More cameras?” Olivia asked in a surprised tone.

  “Yes, she put them everywhere. Land, sea and air.”

  “What do we do about them?” my grandpa asked.

  “We take them out,” Rolf answered.

  I looked up at the trees that appeared to be properly rooted, and noticed more cameras above. I followed the trees’ trunks down to the ground and noticed a few more hidden. Behind a bush I noticed a square twine of vines covering something metal.

  I pointed at it and asked Rolf, “What is that? A giant camera?”

  “No, that must be the main power switch,” he answered.

  “They do like to be modern and futuristic in an enchanted land, don’t they?” Olivia rhetorically asked.

  “Do we just leave it alone, and continue our journey?” I asked impatiently.

  “No, in order to stay undercover, we need to destroy it,” Rolf answered.

  “He is right, Milly. I don’t trust what is up Carolyn’s sleeve at this point,” my grandpa agreed.

  “What if these don’t work and they are just coy devices to make us think they are working?” I pressed on.

  “Trust me, she would not spend money on something that did not work,” my grandpa said.

  We jumped over the ledge of the road, and headed towards the metal box with determination. The vines were those of the Path of Knowledge.

  The vines slithered around the metal box as we inched closer. Rolf told us, “Stop here. I am going to go up there and get rid of them.”

  I couldn’t help but ask, because I am forgetful if he had already told us this or not, “Why is it only you can talk, and the rest can’t?”

  I felt like a blond when he laughed and said, “Because I used to be human. I told you this. Are you okay?”

  “I think so, I feel a bit light headed,” I said.

  He was about to look away until he eyed my feet. He yelled, “Everyone check your ankles. One has ahold of Milly!”

  The wolf that was my ride, bit the vine off instantly, and caught my side, before I could tip over. I whispered, “Thank you.”

  I looked around and said, “That was some trip, whoa!”

  “Yeah, that tends to happen,” my grandpa laughed.

  We waited as the wolves had at it with the vines. Then we approached with caution. I looked at its basic outlay and noticed one, not so basic, thing about it. Instead of the standard pad lock, they put in a keypad entry.

  “What do you think the passcode is?” Olivia wondered.

  “Well, it has to be four digits at least,” Jack answered.

  My grandpa smirked, “Try the twins’ birthday. If Carolyn was the one who put this in, then she would only pick what was most important to her.”

  I typed in zero, eight, one, and three. August thirteenth was their birthday. It dinged twice and read, ‘incorrect code’ across the screen. I asked my grandpa, “What is another code to try?”

  “Not sure,” he shrugged his shoulders.

  “Oh, I might have it. You said ‘what was most important to her’ right? What about her phone?” I inquired.

  “A woman who has two kids, finds her phone more important?” Olivia snooted.

  “Trust me,” my grandpa said.

  I typed in the last four digits of her phone number, and it buzzed once and opened the door to all the switches to every last one of the cameras.

  I saw they were all color coded for each habitat. Blue was for water, brown was for land, and white was for air. I turned all the silver switches in the downward position and changed the passcode to the number of some eighties song.

  “Let’s destroy it,” Jack said, with a menacing smile.

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  I watched as he cut all the wires, except the ones that control the keypad. All of the cameras were now supposed to be turned off. I still couldn’t help but get a feeling that I was being watched.

  Chapter Twenty

  We worked our way down from the ledge, to head back to the tree. I decided we should walk the rest of the way back to tree, in order to not trip again. I could tell the wolves agreed to have less weight upon their backs.

  Rolf joked, “It is nice to give my back a break.”

  Olivia quickly complained, “Hey! Are you calling me heavy?”

  Rolf answered her softly, “No, you are a light weight. I was just joking around.”

  She laughed and said, “Okay.”

  I watched my grandpa fiddle with something inside his coat pocket, and he caught me staring. He quickly placed his hand to his side, and quickened the pace he walked. My grandpa’s wolf companion walked next to him.

  Mason stood by my side, and grabbed my hand. Olivia looked back at us and smiled at his gesture. I felt the warmth of his palm, and found it to be strange. I thought vampires were cold to the
touch? I questioned myself.

  I nodded the question away, and decided to just enjoy the moment. The connection I felt with Mason was much more than just a little crush. I looked up ahead, and seen the tree top of where we were headed. I hoped my grandpa knew what he was doing.

  As we edged closer to the tree I was able to see the trunk. The hollow shape still appeared in the center. I looked lower and seen that a six legged snake was now guarding the tree. It noticed us right away.

  We stopped in our tracks and I asked my grandpa, “What do we do?”

  “I am not sure. Let’s see what it wants,” he answered briskly.

  Jack added, “I agree. My bones are getting too old to fight anymore.”

  Olivia giggled at him, and he snapped back, “Keep using that lighter, your lungs will be too weak to do your morning jog.”

  She sighed heavily and said, “I told you, dad, you can trust that I would never do that.”

  “Hush,” my grandpa commanded.

  Rolf asked him, “Do you see what I see?”

  He nodded, and I followed his gaze back to the snake. It stood the length of the tree, and Jack asked, “How tall is that tree, do you suppose?”

  “Six feet exactly,” Rolf and my grandpa answered at once.

  The snake had a diamond pattern on its back, and its feet were just three long toes with nails that seemed to be missing a manicure. Overall its color was black, which made its hiss and fangs seem more menacing than any normal snake that I actually like.

  We walked up to the snake and my grandpa asked politely, “Why are you here?”

  “For something you have,” the snake hissed.

  “What do you think that is?” my grandpa asked.

  “What you took from me, while I slept!” the snake began to yell.

  “It didn’t belong to just you!” my grandpa began to match the snakes tone.

  The snake hissed at him, while getting closer to his face. I saw my grandpa back up as the snake sniffed his coat. I picked up a rock, and held it tightly in my fist. I looked at Olivia, and she had done the same.

  “Together,” I told her softly. She nodded.

  I began to hold back my arm, ready for the throw, and saw a rock fly directly into the snakes’ eye. I looked at Olivia and she was shocked at, what I believe, to be her aim.

  The snake quickly turned its head towards her. Without warning, the snake opened its mouth and dropped to bite Olivia. Rolf was quick to jump in front of her. He screamed, “No!” as he flew up through the air.

  A crunch sound cut through the silence, then Rolf yelped as he hit the ground. His paw had gotten bit, and the snake smirked, “Now it is time for you,” while still eyeing Olivia.

  I swiped Jack’s knife from his hand and tossed it to her while screaming her name to get her attention. She lifted her hand and grabbed its handle. She twirled, as the snake tried to bite her, and dropped to stab its stomach.

  The snake grunted and started to stumble. She stabbed it again, on the other side, causing the snake to drop to the ground. Olivia screamed with anger as she took one more stab at its head.

  “Whoa!” I exclaimed with a smile towards Olivia.

  She looked up at me and said, “No one messes with my friends and gets away with it.”

  Rolf was lying on the ground, barely moving. Olivia dropped to his side and started to weep. The rest of us ran over to them and I tried to comfort her.

  I gently told her, “It will be okay, if anything, we can help him.”

  Her once brown eyes were now masked with tears, and she murmured, “How? He is dying!”

  My grandpa knelt down to examine Rolf’s wound, and watched as it swelled to the size of a tennis ball. He sighed and told us, “The venom is causing this. We need to suck it out of him.”

  “With what, do you suppose?” Jack interrogated.

  Mason looked at me and took out his sponge ear plugs, and I shook my head no. He ignored my request and said, “These will, for sure, soak up the venom.”

  My grandpa took them and placed a sponge in each fang mark. They instantly became swollen with the venom.

  Rolf lifted his head, and looked at Olivia. She wrapped her arms around him and he said, “I am okay, now.”

  He looked at his swollen paw and asked, “Whose idea was this?”

  “Brad and Mason’s,” Olivia answered.

  He looked them and nodded, “Thank you.”

  Rolf used his good paw, and pulled a square diamond leather necklace off of him. He handed over to Olivia and placed it into her shaking hand. He told her, “It will always protect the wearer.”

  She tried handing it back, “I can’t take this from you.”

  He refused to take it back, and told her, “Please, protect you, for me.”

  She nodded and said, “I promise.”

  He began to stand up, and Olivia quickly asked, “What are you doing?”

  “I must be on my way,” he said slowly.

  “What? No!” she demanded.

  He nudged her side and turned to walk away. Before disappearing into the trees, he told my grandpa, “You know what to do.”

  My grandpa nodded once, and slowly turned away.

  Olivia dropped her head, and I decided to place a hand on her shoulder. She stared intensely at the diamond, and placed it around her neck. She looked at me seriously and I could tell she was determined to not let this go.

  I looked away from her gaze and noticed the rest of the wolves leaving. I asked, “Why are they all leaving?”

  Still turned around, my grandpa answered, “To spread the word, of the good we are about to do.”

  I watched as he walked up to the tree, and pulled something out of his coat pocket. It was a crystal, the shape of the hollow spot on the tree. I went up next to him, and asked, “Where did you find that?”

  “Did you not understand what that six legged serpent was here for?” he counter asked.

  I stood in silence as he placed the crystal in the tree. It began to glow and he said, “This is the Crystal of Protection. It makes Olivia’s diamond work.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The tree shook as the Crystal of Protection took its place. It glowed as it caused a line of light split down the middle of the tree. The branches trembled, and some of the leaves dropped down to the ground.

  I watched the tree begin to split in two. The ground started to shake, yet it stayed intact. The tree was now on opposite sides of the path, and the light finally dimmed. I looked on the inside of the tree and it was white, like the Waterfall of liquid Onyx.

  I looked passed the tree and up to the sky. I saw metal cages dangling there by a thin cable. Some swayed side to side, others stayed still. One of the cages, I saw wings sprout from the inside.

  “They are the aviary creatures. ‘One with the winds’, as they are called,” my grandpa announced.

  I looked closer at the cages and hoped there was just a simple button to push that would unlock them all. The top and bottom were metal, but the bars were electric lines.

  “That’s new,” Jack said in a confused tone.

  “What is new?” I asked.

  “They use to be straight metal, now they are not,” he answered.

  “Why did that change that?” I questioned him again.

  Before he could answer me, we heard footsteps coming towards us.

  “Stop!” a man’s voice demanded.

  I turned around, with everyone else, to see a centaur facing us. He looked concerned. I asked him, “What’s wrong?”

  “There are traps hidden everywhere,” he explained.

  “How did you manage to not get into one?” Olivia asked him.

  “Using this,” he held out a stick, and explained, “I tap this on the ground, in front of me.”

  “Why are you telling us this?” Mason questioned.

  “I know who you guys are. I don’t want you guys to get stuck on your rescue mission.”

  “Thank you,” my grandpa told him
.

  He nodded at my grandpa and looked at us all curiously. I wanted to know what his deal was, but knew we did not have time to deal with this. I asked the centaur, “Do you know where Holden Bridges is?”

  The centaur raised an eyebrow and answered, “I have not heard of him for years. Why?”

  “No reason,” I smirked.

  He walked towards me with his hooves tapping with every step he took. His arms and stomach were covered in red fur, which matched his lower half of his body. I looked at him with my eyebrows scrunched. He said, “Do not fear me, I am here to help. But only for a short period of time.”

  “What’s the rush?” Olivia asked.

  “I have many things to do today, before the sun goes down,” he answered briskly.

  I decided to use his distraction to try to move away from him. Something didn’t feel right, so I stepped to the side. The leaves beneath my feet began to cave in. The unexpected sink made my balance lose control.

  As the leaves fell, so did I and I could feel myself fall into a pit. It was a short stop, because by the time I hit the ground, it did not seem so hard. Yet, the height of the pit was too tall for me.

  I looked around and the only light I could see was coming from where I fell. I saw Olivia, and the others circle the pit. Mason asked, “Are you okay?”

  I rubbed my head and answered, “I think so!”

  “What do you see down there?” Olivia asked.

  I looked around, to as far as the light would allow, and said, “Not much. It is too dark!”

  Jack threw down a flash light and said, “Here, use this to see if you can find anything that may help.”

  I caught the giant light and used the pits’ opening to find the button to turn it on. The light was bright, and could see from twenty feet away. I pointed it to the ground, and did not see anything unusual. I lifted the light up and started to look at the walls of the pit.

  I looked up and yelled, “I don’t see anything-,” and stopped as I noticed an opening.

  “Milly! Are you okay? Did you find something?” Olivia sounded frantic.

  I quickly looked up at them and told them, “I did! I am not sure what it is, but it looks like a tunnel.”

  They all exchanged confused expressions. The centaur demanded, “Hold that thought.”