After Breakfast.
Curtis walked to his backpack as he looked through it, he was looking for something very important.
"Curtis, aren't we supposed to start going now?" asked Maddie as she looked at Curtis, usually once they finished eating breakfast, they would pack up and set on their way, before they had to repeat the cycle.
"Give me a moment first" said Curtis as he was still searching through his backpack.
"Are you looking for something Curtis?" asked Annie as she looked at Curtis.
"Yes" replied Curtis.
"What are you looking for?" asked Annie as Curtis did not reply to her.
"Don't worry, I found it" said Curtis as he brought out a piece of paper.
"What is it?" asked Annie as Curtis zipped up his bag and he opened up the paper.
"It's a map" said Curtis as he opened the paper, and was like it multiplied in size.
"A map?" asked Annie in confusion.
"Yes" said Curtis.
"A map of where?" asked Annie as she was confused.
"Of Caligo" replied Curtis plainly.
"Wait, wait" said Maddie.
"There is a map of Caligo?" asked Maddie.
"Yes, I just said so" said Curtis.
"Wow" said Ollie as he was lost in his own thoughts once again, he knew that there was only one map of Caligo, and It was kept very safely in the High Council Palace vault, it was a treasure for the realm, but Curtis had the map right now, this was so cool.
"Tell me, how long you have had this map Curtis?" asked Maddie as she was sure that he had it this whole time, but he did not tell them at all, no wonder he was not worried about them going in circles, or going in the wrong direction, he had a map.
"How long do you think I have had it?" asked Curtis as he did not reply to Maddie's question.
"I think for as long as we have been on this annoying mountain" said Maddie.
"That answers your question" said Curtis as he gave her a quick smile.
"Wait Curtis, isn't that the only map of Caligo? The only one in the witch realm to ever exist, it's worth more than anything else" said Ollie as he looked at Curtis.
"Yes, it is the same map" said Curtis.
"Oh My Curtis, so cool, how did you get it?? It was locked up in the High Council Palace vault, how did you get it?" asked Ollie as he really wanted to see the map now, that thing was over a thousand years old, it would be an honour for him to look at it, or even for him to touch it.
"Stella gave it to me" said Curtis as he replied.
"Oh so cool" said Ollie as his eyes were glimmering, Stella must have trusted Curtis so much to give him this map, he doubted anybody knew that she had given Curtis this treasured map, this reassure piece of their history, or else she would be under fire for doing so.
"Enough blondie, enough" said Maddie as she snapped at Ollie and he stopped talking.
"Why didn't you tell us that you had a map Curtis?" asked Maddie as she narrowed her eyes at Curtis, she could not trust him, and this was the reason that she could not, he was not making himself trustworthy, always leaving out important information such as this.
"Well at the time it was not necessary" said Curtis.
"What do you mean it was not necessary?" asked Maddie as that made no sense to her.
"The map does not have a lot of information, it only has a basic structure of the mountain" said Curtis.
"And it was no necessary because the little key places plotted on the map, only begins once we pass over the highlands, which is why it was not necessary to use the map until this point" said Curtis as he gave an explanation, but that only annoyed Maddie more.
"You should have just mentioned it at least once Curtis, that would have given us some reassurance" said Maddie as she sighed and she shook her head, it was too early in the morning to do this right now, she was just tired, she should just let Curtis be, because it was clear that he did not take any of them seriously at all.
"You know what, fine, just fine" said Maddie as she was not going to do this, not right now.
Annie looked at Maddie, and Maddie just shot her a look that read "I still don't agree with this, but I am just tired, so I will leave him be" and Annie just sighed, Curtis was just making everyone frustrated, including her, she of course agreed with Maddie, he should have told them that he had a map, even if it was only once.
"Why are you using a map now Curtis?" asked Matt as he agreed with Maddie, but right now, they had no time to waste, they only had limited time to move and make some progress before they would have to stop and set up camp again, so right now was not the time to argue.
"There should be a shorter route here… somewhere" said Curtis as he looked at the map, all he wanted to do now was to speed up their journey, they could not possibly stay as long as he had predetermined on this mountain.
"Wait, let me see the map" said Ollie as he walked over to where Curtis was standing and he looked at the map.
Well Curtis was right about one thing, the map was very bare, which was no surprise at all, the witches knew close to nothing about Caligo, and another reason why this mountain was very dangerous, the lack of knowledge surrounding it.
"What if we cut through this side, I think we will be able to avoid more ground, and just have a straight path" said Ollie as he gave a suggestion.
"I thought so as well, but that path is too dangerous" said Curtis as he had Annie in mind, it would just be too dangerous for her, and for everyone else at that, if he could find no alternative safe route, they would have to continue on this route that they were in, even though it would take a while, it was better for them to be safe, than to end up risking their lives.
"Well that seems like the only other route on this map" said Ollie.
"And that is what I was afraid of" said Curtis to himself as he sighed, this map was as good as useless, it was not directing them at all, just pointing out obvious information that they already knew about, it was no help at all.
"I feel like the routes truly are limited" said Ollie.
"Well alright then, we will continue on this route that we are currently on" said Curtis as he had already made his decision and he was sure that it was the best one, after all, he had to make sure that it was, everyone's safety was his top concern, even though it might not look like it to them.
"And how long will it take for us to reach wherever you have in mind?" asked Maddie as she knew that by now, they only did what Curtis had in mind, and nothing else.
"Well I estimate two weeks" said Curtis as he really did not want to have think about food right now, they were almost out of food, and apart from that it was getting colder, and the journey would soon get harder, he knew that.
"Alright, so two more weeks" said Maddie as she smiled, it was no surprise to her at all.
Actually, she wanted to ask Curtis about their food plan, but she really did not want to end up arguing again, he probably had a plan, no he better have had one, because she knew that she was not going to die or suffer on this mountain.
"Two weeks" said Annie as she sighed.
"Anyway, let's go on now, we have wasted enough time as it is" said Curtis as he folded up the map in the same way he opened it.
"Yeah, I wonder who's fault that is" said Maddie as she murmured under her breath but everyone else could still hear her, it was not like she was hiding her true feelings, not at all.
"So which direction are we going?" asked Ollie in curiosity.
"There" said Curtis as he pointed ahead to the right.
"Hmm" said Maddie as she just sighed and she walked to get her bag, but then she realized that Matt would carry it for her, so she just turned around and began to walk in the direction Curtis pointed in, she did not even wait for anyone at all.
"She really is upset this time" said Matt as he looked at Annie and she looked at him.
"Mhmmm, she is" said Annie as she just looked at Curtis as Curtis looked like nothing was wrong at all.