day 7

‘Did he walk on the water?’ Millie asked moments later, when we still were staring at the point where he had disappeared.
‘No, he walked on stones that just appeared in the water,’ I said, poking around the river with a long stick. ‘But they’re not here now.
‘But…isn’t that impossible?’
I tossed the branch in the river. The current swallowed it immediately and carried it off. ‘You can’t deny what you’ve seen, though.’
‘It’s magic. Maybe he was...maybe he is one of the Fairy Folk?’
‘Oh, don’t go all superstitious on me,’ I snapped. ‘I’ve had enough of that for the rest of my life. You and Gran and all that talk of ma -’
And then I stopped in mid-sentence, shocked. ‘Or maybe you’re right - maybe it is magic. It’s the only explanation.’
Millie’s eyes dashed from me to the river and back again. ‘What are you saying?’
‘This cloaked guy…he must be one skilled network user.’
‘Is that possible?’
‘I...I think it is. I’ve never heard of it before, but technically…I mean, what if he tapped into the network and got such a strong grasp on the information that he altered it...completely? He deleted some stones somewhere else in the forest and copied them into the river water, walked on them, then deleted them once more. Good gracious.’ There had been only few moments in my life that I had been more gobsmacked.
‘If this is true, that guy is revolutionary.’
Millie had started to hop up and down on her feet, an impatient expression spreading rapidly over her face. ‘Do you think you could copy him?’
‘What? ME?’
‘Well, in case you forgot, he crossed the river about ten minutes ago. He might very well be on his way to Devilshill by now, winning the stage. And he can’t win, because you have to!’
I raised my eyebrows. ‘I thought we didn’t need to win this game?’
‘But if you lose here, you can’t become runner-up either. So we’ve got to cross this river, like…now.’
‘Well, I’ve got a terribly outdated magic system. How do you suppose I could copy him?’
She shrugged.
‘Though,’ I murmured, tempted by the idea. ‘It couldn’t hurt to try.’

I sat down on the ground, ignoring the wet grass and leafs. Closing my eyes, I wondered if the overkill of alcohol the other day had made me too bold. Finding the network, I tried to thing of a good guide string. Devilswood Forest seemed a bit too general, but as I didn’t even know the name of the river it was all I had. I refined and refined, until I got to the point that more or less must be the place I was sitting right now. Then, I was stuck.
So I got the place: trees, water, flowing my info said. I could tell that without my eyes closed. I tried to find a rock - there were plenty around, but most of them were pebble sized, not exactly what you’d use for crossing a stream. I sighed, logged off and got up, only to find Millie’s expectant eyes fixed on me. ‘Well?’
‘Fail,’ I said. ‘I have no idea how the bloody guy did it.’
‘Ah well,’ she said, looking disappointed. ‘I guess we’ve tried all we could, then.’
‘Of course not,’ I snapped, somehow my irritation was fuelled by the lack of success. ‘Take off your shoes. I didn’t want to do this at first, but it seems we’ve got to.’
‘Are you mad? Do you want to cross over on foot?’
‘Unless you have any other bright ideas.’
‘No,’ she admitted.
I looked around until I found two relatively thick branches. I gave one to Millie, then took my shoes and trousers off and put them in the cotton bag. Millie draped her own over her shoulders.
‘Put your stick down firmly every time you make a step,’ I told her. ‘We’ll walk in an angle against the current. If you slip, you’ll go downstream, so grab me fast. Ready?’
I don’t think either of us were completely ready, but we took a deep breath and made our first baby steps into the water. It was absolutely freezing - it hurt from the cold, and the pebbles and the river mud was slippery under our feet.

We were about half way when I slipped. It just happened, I’m not even sure how. The branch in my hand gave way and I went down.
For a moment I was below the surface. I felt the surging cold of the current, like a strong hand enclosing my throat and dragging me with it. I kept my eyes wide open - what I remember best to this day, are the many frothy bubbles going up, and tiny bits of forest being dragged along with me. Then, something forced me to emerge and I resurfaced gasping and coughing, then hyperventilating and wheezing. Millie clung to my arm, lips trembling, as if I was supporting her rather than the other way around.
My hair stuck in my neck and clung to my face like a cold wet slug.
‘Are - are you okay?’ Millie asked.
I nodded, feeling like my throat had just frozen shut and I was unable to speak. With the greatest of efforts we made it to the other side, where I sank down on my knees, swearing I would never do this again.
I fumbled with my trousers before I managed to wring them and clumsily pulled them on. Both trousers and shoes were now as wet as the rest of me.
‘If I catch pneumonia, I swear I will sue the organizer of the tournament,’ I declared passionately.
‘Better get walking,’ Millie said. ‘We’ve got to keep you moving, it’s the best way. Look, maybe if we walk down the stream, we’ll find another way into town. Otherwise we’ll run into the other contestants and they can bring us back safely.’
‘What are you talking about?’ I moaned, picking up the dripping branch (which I had clung unto all this time), supporting myself to remain steady. ‘I thought we were trying to get to Devilshill.’
‘Well…yes…but the way you are now…’
‘If I just fell into that river for nothing, I’m going to get really really cranky,’ I said. ‘So you had better come with me right now. We’d better find this ruddy hill soon and get that stone before sunset too, because if I freeze to death, I’ll make sure I will haunt this place forever!’
With every step, I got a little colder and with every new shiver, my mood dropped to spectacular hollows. When we reached Devilshill, therefore, my mood level was as far below sea level as you could get.
‘Do you see anything?’ I asked Millie.
She peered up. ‘Well, there’s a stone on the top. I can’t believe we actually made it first…wait. There’s him. The guy, he’s walking up, he’s halfway!’
‘Well, what are you waiting for,’ I bit, flinging away my improvised walking stick. ‘Run, then!’

So we did, as fast as we could muster with legs made numb by the cold. The ground uphill was littered by small and larger rocks, gaps and cuts. We stumbled and staggered with as much haste as was safe.
Devilshill might as well have been called Devilsmount, for it far exceeded the definition of a hill like the ones that I was comfortable with. On our right, the hillside dropped into a rift deep enough to make a certain drop to your death, should you fall.
We made some progress, closing a little distance between us and the cloaked guy before he noticed us. By then, I felt my heart plummeting hard against my breast and breathing felt like shooting fire through my lungs.
The cloaked guy looked mildly impressed, but then just quickened his step. He was almost there, after all, and I knew that we had no more chance of catching up on him.
Taking large gulps of breath, I stood still, bowed over and resting my hands on my knees. Millie stood a little bit further above me, with an expression of disappointment written all over her face.
‘Am sorry,’ I said, in between my gulping for air. ‘Nothing I can do - he’s up too high - can’t catch him-’
‘I know,’ Millie said. ‘The stone’s not going to be ours.’
She seemed to resign herself to it, but her words had inspired a sudden thought in my. I felt for my pocket. The chicken egg’s sized pebble was still there, safely put away. I got it out, weighing it in my hand, calculating the distance between us and the cloaked guy.
‘I need you to take - one last sprint,’ I said. ‘Hold him up - just a little.’
‘What are you going to…?’
But I waved my hand. ‘Just do it. Now!’
She obeyed, being a little less soaked and cold than me. I saw how she spread her arms and shouted at him - the guy looked around, probably thinking she had gone insane, and I seized the chance to run forward too. I had to force my legs into doing something they’d rather not, but a small distance was enough, I raised my arm and hurled the pebble at him. I surprised even myself when it struck him.

He halted.

One moment, I shouted: ‘RUN TO THE PEAK!’, but then saw in horror that he bent double, slipping off the narrow path, tumbling down into the nearby rift.
I lurched forward, the cotton bag slipped off my shoulder, down the edge of the gaping fissure. The next moment, I felt his weight as he clung to the bag, me holding on to the handlers as tight as I could.
Millie had disappeared to the top. She didn’t see me as I got hold of the guy’s wrist, hauling him up bit by bit. I thought my arms were going to break, but finally he clambered over the edge, back to the safety of the path.
There we both sank down. The little strength I had left, had deserted me now.
After a while, when he had caught his breath, he said: ‘I suppose I should thank you.’
‘I’m not sure you should,’ I panted with difficulty. ‘I’m…I’m really sorry.’
At that moment, Millie jogged down, calling: ‘Daffodil! I’ve got the stone!’
The cloaked guy got up. He was no longer sleek. The cloak’s hood had fallen down to his shoulders, his chestnut hair was tangled and he even looked a little paler than before.
‘Congratulations,’ he said, looking from a bewildered looking Millie to me, still on the ground. ‘You outplayed me.’
‘It wasn’t fair,’ I said, my cheeks burning. ‘I put your life at risk.’
‘Oh, it was fair alright.’ He brushed past Millie, who was still carrying a ball-like stone in her arms, grabbed me roughly by one arm and pulled me on my feet. He was clenching his jaw. ‘You won fair and square.’
He left us without looking back, briskly walking down the hillside until he disappeared out of side.
‘I can’t believe it,’ I said. ‘I almost killed him.’
‘He didn’t seem too upset about it, however,’ Millie said hesitantly.
I thought he had looked very angry, even though he had applauded our winning.
‘Let’s get back to town. I’m freezing cold and we only have till sunset.’

When we got back it was nearly twilight. We and the other contestants gathered back on the improvised stage. While Millie put the acclaimed stone on the floor, I asked one of the guys why none of them had made it to Devilshill.
‘Me, I got lost pretty quickly,’ came the answer. ‘I swear I was headin’ north, but in the end I wound up goin’ in circles. Then Clive here,’ he nudged the man next to him, ‘he never made it across the river.’
‘Neither did the rest of us,’ the man called Clive said. ‘The bridge caved in two weeks ago and what with all the rain, the current’s pretty darn strong.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘So I noticed.’
‘You gals did pretty well,’ the other guy said. ‘You and him,’ he nodded at the cloaked guy, ‘you were the only ones reachin’ Devilshill.’
‘Yeah,’ I said, crossing the hooded guy’s gaze with my eyes, ‘about that…Can I have a quick word?’
He reluctantly followed me as I slipped off the stage. Playing with the bone whistle around my neck, I said: ‘I can give up my win, if you want.’
‘Oh, really.’ He looked down on me. ‘Why would I want something I didn’t win for myself?’
‘Because…well…you were way ahead of us and I knocked you down. And I shouldn’t have. It was your win to begin with.’
He shrugged. ‘You can keep it. You made it out of my trail very quickly, after all.’
‘You - what trail? The small one? The disappearing one?’
He smiled down on me. ‘I don’t believe it is against the rules to play each other?’
‘Well, that completely changes the matter!’ I folded my arms. ‘How the hell did you make that…Oh, never mind, I suppose you fiddled around with the network, just like you did at the river. Am I right?’
‘Yes. You’re fairly quick witted.’
‘But why play us out? What’s it to you if we become runner-up? We’re not even trying to win this tournament!’
He gave me another cold smile. ‘Neither am I.’
I can’t quite explain what I felt then, as he walked away from me. I had Goosebumps all over me, though that might have been the cold - I hadn’t changed into dry clothes yet. Still, there was something about this guy that made me think it was best for us to leave Devilswood far behind us as quick as we could.
Just to be sure.

Stage 3 - Intelligence: I bet even Millie’s sword is mightier than this pen

Quick mental note list:
· a spade
· five toilet paper rolls
· a fake sword so as to trick anyone into believing it is the real one(therefore not having to compete in life risking games to win the actual sword back)
· litres of lemonade to secretly switch with beer
· never stray off the path. Just don’t.
· vote for a better spread of education throughout the country. Vote for the instalment of fair elections first. Never mind.

In the noon of the following day, we gathered around for the third stage. It amazed me that Millie and I were still up and running. I did not consider the other contestants as rivals, seeing as I never intended to go for the bag of gold (though I had to admit, I’d be much happier with filled wallet than with an ancient weapon). Only the hooded guy seemed…well, weird.
As we fell silent, Bob climbed the stage, spread his arms and announced in a sort of dramatically fashion that the next round would focus on intelligence and know-how. ‘The first part,’ he said, ‘will consist of testing your spelling abilities, while the second part will challenge your mathematical skills! For the first part, rules will be simple an’ clear once again. We give you a word, you write it down. Kindly provide your own writing materials, we begin in one hour, so prepare yerselves, eh? This may well be the hardest part in the tournament!’
I looked around bewildered. Being illiterate, this could only end in total failure. I told Millie so, when we retreated to a corner of the stage.
‘You might as well try,’ she said, in a way I supposed she thought was encouraging.
‘How am I supposed to try? I can’t write a single letter!’
‘Well…not even a little?’
‘No! I…well, I developed my own system of noting things down when I absolutely had to, but that has nothing to do with real spelling. They’re just signs.’
‘Really?’ She beamed at me. ‘Can you show me?’
I shrugged, then bent to write something in the dust.
‘Wait. Use this,’ Millie said, retrieving a block of paper from the rucksack.
‘What’s that?’
‘Just my sketchbook.’
‘I didn’t know you carried a sketchbook with you.’
She flushed a little. ‘I keep it to myself, really…Here.’ She leaved through the block to a blank page, handing it to me. ‘Oh, and here’s a pencil.’
I took the pencil, not quite comfortable with it. It felt like my fingers didn’t really know how to hold it properly. ‘What do you want me to write?’ I asked, feeling self-conscious.
‘I dunno…What would you usually write down?’
‘Err - well, sometimes, when I have a lot on my mind, I make some notes about the errands I need to run. Like if one of our sheep walked through a broken fence and I need to repair it.’
We ended up scribbling the page full with our literary skills. Millie showed me her own script, which was as unfamiliar to me as anything else, so she quickly abandoned the idea of teaching me how to write within the half an hour that was left before the game.

In the end, the page looked like this: