Justine wasted no time.
She had our bags packed by dawn and didn't sleep a wink. I hardly slept either, it showed in the shadows under her eyes and the slight rasp in my voice. But nonetheless, we were ready.
We walked in silence away from her property. She kept glancing back with a certain longing in her face. I could tell she was missing something terribly.
I'd seen that expression in my reflection too many times.
We left the clearing of her house and went off into the bushes. As we walked she picked small berries, popping them into her mouth. Then to my surprise, she offered a handful to me.
I took one and put it in my mouth. Its sweetness filled my body with warmth. I shoved the rest in my mouth feeling the juice run down my cheeks.
Justine looked at me and gave a rare laugh.
We continued our long walk up hills and along ridges. I stayed away from the edge very carefully.
By the time night fell my legs were aching badly. Finally Justine stopped walking.
"We stop here for the day, tomorrow we will reach the Sephrina Woods," She remained impassive but I saw a flicker of fear in her eyes.
I gratefully dropped to the ground.
Justine laid out two clothes for us to sleep on.
When we had settled down Justine produced more of the sweet little berries. We ate in silence but a question filled my mind. Why was Justine afraid of the Sephrina Woods?
"Justine," I said quietly.
She looked at me and scowled, "I already know what you're thinking. No, I don't feel like talking about it."
She flopped onto her bed and turned her back to me.
I lay on my back and stared up at the sky. The stars were so bright out here in the dark. I tried to count them but got lost. I imagined how Bella would love a night like this.
A tear ran down my cheek.
I prayed Bella was hanging on. She must know I would come for her. She just needed to hang on.
I would never let her go.
The next morning I was awakened by Justine packing our stuff.
She kept a cold determined look on her face. In other words, no way to read her.
Ahead of us a forest loomed. Justine stopped at its edge and took a deep breath. Then without a word, she started to walk through the trees.
Soon we were travelling through a land of dark trees and giant shadows, their foreign leaves looming over us. Not a lot of light seeped into these woods.
I allowed my hand to brush the bark of a tree as I passed. It was scratchy and sharp against my skin.
Small flowers in lucid shades surrounded us. Everything here was ominous, and I knew I was in the Sephrina Woods. Justine was mainly looking at her feet. Quite suddenly, she stopped in front of me. I bumped into her.
"Watch it," She snapped. "Don't you know anything, it's dangerous in the Sephrina woods."
Even this comment lacked her usual spunk. I peered in front of her and saw nothing alarming. It was just a patch of grass.
Seeing my confusion, she picked up a stone.
"Watch," She said quietly.
She tossed it onto the soil directly in front of us. It stayed for a second before it disappeared into the ground.
"Sinking earth," I said with wonder. She nodded. A phenomenon I had heard of, but never seen.
"It mimics normal earth, except it tends to be flat and symmetrical," she remarked. I nodded, deciding to follow her example and keep my eyes on the ground.
"Is there anything else potentially dangerous?" I said, hoping that she might perk up a little, or at least not forget anything else we could step on.
"The flowers. Don't touch them. Any fruit? Don't pick it. Poisonous."
I looked down at the patch of sinking dirt, memorizing its patterns and faults. Everything here was too pretty, way too perfect to be natural.
A shiver ran down my spine.