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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

A fter petting Sebastian one more time, Rath and I left my Grandma’s house and headed across the bridge. But once across it, instead of turning to the right towards town, we turned to the left. Both of us were carrying packs and Rath also had his enormous war hammer over one broad shoulder.

“If you ever need to leave the barrier, just walk away from town in any direction,” Rath told me. “In about twenty or thirty minutes, you’ll find yourself stepping across into the outside world.”

“How will I know it’s the outside world?” I asked curiously. “I mean, what if it just happens to be the same season outside as it is in the bubble when I cross over?”

“You’ll feel a tingling sensation all over your body,” he told me. “And you might see a kind of rainbow shimmer in the air. It’s sort of like stepping through an enormous soap bubble, if that makes any sense.”

It didn’t really, but I guessed I would find out.

And find out, I did—about twenty minutes later. We were walking along, talking—Rath was obviously shortening his long stride so I could keep up with him without running—when suddenly he came to a halt and took a deep breath.

“All right—this is it,” he murmured to me. “Do you see it?”

I squinted my eyes and sure enough, I saw a wavery, rainbow shimmer in the air in front of us. It really did look like a giant soap bubble.

“I see it,” I said, nodding.

“Good. As soon as we cross through the barrier, I’ll state our intentions. Unless you want to be the one to do it?” he added, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh no—please, you do the honors.” I shook my head. “I wouldn’t even know what to say.”

“Basically, we have to let Baba Yaga know that we’re seeking her,” he told me. “She’s spell-bound to let anyone who comes looking for her find her—but it’s up to her how difficult it is for them to get to her.”

“Wow, okay.” I nodded. “I guess we should get to it then.”

“Yes, we should.” He squared his shoulders and reached for my hand. “We need to stay together—visibility might be limited.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I didn’t mind holding his hand, even though his was so big it swallowed mine whole and I felt kind of like a little kid.

“Here we go,” Rath told me. “Come on—we’re going to get you unbound.”

Then he stepped forward and I stepped with him…out of the magical world of Hidden Hollow and into another place altogether.