Our Grandparents' House. Part Five.

“You go to the very edge of the wood, and in the middle of the green leaved trees, there are two purple leaved trees. These will part ways to give you access to the valley,” Princess Alda told us.
Peter and I were going to the Valley Of The Gypsics to confront the evil sorcerer Yelrettek, and to try to break his magic staff in half, in order to stop his tyranny, and break the spell he held over the Gypsics. The spell that led them to believe that Queen Adla and Princess Alda were evil. Once this was done, Princess Alda would become queen of the Gypsics.
It was me that had rashly promised to confront Yelrettek , but now my knees were turning to jelly.
“I’m not sure I can do this,” I said.
“You made a promise, now you must stick to it,” Peter told me, in his big brother voice.
Queen Adla and Princess Alda waved us off.
“Good luck!” The queen called after us.
Peter and I set off along the crunchy lane that led to the very edge of Whispering Wood. As we walked, a chilly breeze started to blow, giving the wood it’s name. The wind blew through the trees’ leaves, sounding like a load of people whispering together.
“I’m really nervous,” I said to Peter as we walked along. “Why did I offer to do this?”
“Because you’re a really kind and thoughtful person,” my brother answered. “And you always want to help others in some way.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t usually involve trying to defeat an evil sorcerer.”
“Stop your whining. We’ll defeat Yelterrek, and we’ll do it together.”
After twenty minutes of walking, we reached the very, very edge of the wood. The princess was right. There were green leaved trees, like everywhere else in the wood, but in the middle, there were two trees with purple trees. They looked very out of place, and quite funny. As me and my brother stood there, dopily looking up at them, they rustled, and made a gap, to allow us access to the Valley. Peter and I made our way through the gap, and the trees rustled back to their original positions.
Peter and I gazed in wonder upon the sight in front of us. In the distance were two hills opposing each other. They were very large, and looked as though they could be very steep. Just below the two hills was a very large field, filled with straw huts. I presumed the huts were the home of the Gypsics. There was a patch in the middle of the field where there were no huts, for there was a river that babbled it’s way through the field, and finished as a pool just where Peter and I were standing. Knowing that standing here all day with our mouths wide open wasn’t going to do anything, I nudged my brother, and we both started our way through the field.
Princess Alda had told us that Yelrettek’s lair was situated in the middle of the two hills. The Hills Of Scispyg, she’d called them. The hills was where we were headed towards, in order to find the staff that contained Yelrettek’s magic and soul. Hopefully, Yelrettek wouldn’t be anywhere when we broke his staff. But then, what were the chances of that happening?
By this point, the sun was really high in the sky, and was really hot. As we walked, it beat down on us, until I was panting like a dog. I was wearing a jacket, because back in our world, it was the evening, and it had began to get chilly. In the end I had to admit defeat, and I took it off.
“Do you know what I find strange about this place?” Peter asked.
“No. What’s that?”
“There’s two strangers walking through their valley, and nobody has come out to say hi or to nose at us.”
Peter was right. For a place filled with huts, it was eerily quiet. We weren’t Gypsics, and we didn’t live in this valley, so where was everyone? Why wasn’t anyone coming out to greet us, or to ask who we were and where we come from?
“This Yelrettek must be really evil,” I said. “He’s probably enslaved the whole lot of them. They’re probably doing jobs for him.”
“What? Like his chores?” Peter asked sarcastically. “Cooking his dinner? Hanging his laundry out to dry?”
“Don’t be silly Pete. I meant looking after this place. Keeping it safe from trespassers.”
“But we’re trespassers!” Peter pointed out. “If they’re keeping it safe from trespassers, where are they?”
“Well, they’re probably in hiding. Waiting for the right time to ambush us.” And then we both screamed as Peter’s belly rumbled loudly.
“I’m hungry,” he grinned.
I sighed. “Honestly Peter, you only had dinner, what, like two hours ago?”
Peter’s grin widened. “Yeah, but I’m a growing lad. And anyway, we’re in a different world, where the timeline’s all different. It was evening in our world, here, it’s probably midday, or something.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Don’t do that to me. Not in this heat. I’m starting to get a headache.”
We’d stopped walking by this time, and we were both so absorbed in our conversation, that we didn’t notice them at first.
I opened my eyes again, said: “Come on, let’s keep going. I want to get to Yelterrek’s lair by the end of the day.” I turned to keep moving forward, and nearly screamed out loud.
Peter and I were inside a circle. The circle being made up of Gypsics, all with Queen Adla and Princess Alda’s skin and hair colour. Some were men, some were women. But they were all stood there, glaring at us, holding up spears to our faces.
Peter glowered at me. “Thanks Alice.”
“It wasn’t my fault!” I protested. “I was only joking!”
As we both stood there in fright, one of the glaring Gypsics stepped forward. He was taller than the others, and seemed to be the leader. Still holding his spear aloft, he threatened us menacingly:
“Silence! In the name of Yelrettek and his army! What business do you have here in the Valley Of Yelrettek?!”