Chapter 10: Directions

Rachel froze and instantly changed into a squirrel, of all things. She scurried up the nearest tree and stood on a branch, watching. Izzie was panting hard already from the tickling, but still she ran behind the tree Rachel was on. 

"I swear, I heard shouting coming from this very spot." One man said frantically to the other 6.

"Sure, like we believe you." A woman said, though she was still eyeing the surroundings carefully. 

"Please!" The man pleaded.

"Let's continue going." Another man sighed. They left and disappeared into the needle foliage. Rachel chirped softly, in the way that squirrels do. Playtime was over. Time to get down to business. Rachel ran along the branches to the very tip, then jumped to the next. She raced along quietly and hastily, Izzie panting hard to stay at the same pace on the ground. When she met up with Faber, he cocked his head to the right and let out an impatient sigh.

"Yeah, sorry, sorry." Rachel said. She morphed back to human and grabbed her duffel bag. They left the temporary den and started walking away, Faber on her shoulder clinging tightly.

"Incoming!" Izzie and Faber barked and screeched, after they had been walking a while. She loped to the left, and Faber flew to the right. Rachel, stunned, had to take seconds, precious seconds, to register what her companions had said. The person came into view now. She had blond hair cut short, to the tips of her earlobes, and a camouflage outfit. The woman also was surprised, but recovered from it quicker than Rachel. She was the same woman that she had seen earlier, while she was a squirrel! The woman opened her mouth to scream for the 6 others.

Rachel stretched her finger at the woman and willed vines to grow out of the ground. The 2 vines snaked upward and encircled the woman's mouth and head. The sound muffled. Now, she pointed her whole hand at her.

"Tell me which way to go, to Viridi Forest you must show!" Rachel chanted. A dreamy look passed on her face. Rachel jerked her head to the ground, and the vines seemed to go back into the ground. The woman pointed somewhere to the left.

"Now you will sleep soundly, so get comfortable quickly!" Rachel said again, drowsiness taking Rachel over, though the sleep spell went only to the bounty hunter. The woman crouched and curled up into a little ball, snoring loudly. Rachel was breathless from the amount of magic she did in under 2 minutes! She felt like sleeping herself. She had half the green energy left. But Rachel nonetheless messed with the duffel bag strap on her shoulder, which had been digging into her skin, and whistled. Izzie ran to her master and they both walked in the direction Faber had flown.