Royal Runaway

Chapter Eight

Madeline wasn't that shocked to see the boy, specifically, she was just rather shocked to see anyone in here this early in the morning. The boy looked about as shocked and confused as she felt. Madeline quickly thought that he had recognized her.

"I'm not who you think I am!" she blurted out quickly.

The boy looked even more confused now. "And who am I supposed to think you are?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows. The boy had a very gruff, throaty voice. He looked to be about Madeline's age, maybe a year older. He had tanned skin and his dirty blonde hair was cut leaving only a little bit of hair at the top of his head long. He had dark, mysterious brown eyes.

"Oh, no one," Madeline said, averting her gaze from him and going over to the Twix bars.

She heard the boy mutter, "Weirdo," under his breath, before he turned down the aisle. Madeline mentally cursed herself. Why did you have to go and say that? You haven't even been gone for 24 hours and you already could've blown your cover.

Madeline looked around the aisle, examining all the delicious looking candy. She ended up picking up a few chocolate bars and a bag of sour patch kids. When she made her way back to the counter, she saw that the boy was gone. The shop owner still sat behind the counter reading his book. Madeline quietly made her way up to the counter and placed her items on it. The guy began to ring her up, not paying her any attention. He placed her things in a bag and gave her her change. Madeline got out of there as quickly as she could.

~

Madeline walked down the main street of Springwhich for a while, keeping her head down. She glanced at the cute store fronts, noticing all the shopkeepers who came to unlock their stores. The street was starting to become busier, what with people waking up to run their morning errands. Kids started to emerge onto the street to play with their friends, while their parents went off to shop or chat with their friends. Madeline was in awe of the town and all its occupants. She had never really seen everyday life for normal people. Of course she had read about it in books or seen it on TV, but there was something really interesting about watching it unfold right before her eyes.

However, she realized that she would probably need to get out of the streets very soon. With the more people coming out, the sooner she would probably be recognized. She made sure her sunglasses were on tight. She glanced to her right and saw a clothing store. She decided to go in there and purchase a hat, to better help with her disguise.

The store was small, but cute. It looked like a little tourist clothing shop, with t-shirts that had sayings like, Springwhich Will Cast a Spell on You or I Love SW. Madeline made her way over to the baseball hats display. There wasn't much of a selection, but Madeline did find a royal blue colored on, which read: My Heart Belongs in Springwhich. It was cheap and it would have to do.

Madeline picked it up and made her way to the counter. She handed the lady behind it the hat, which the lady started to ring up. On the counter were lots of touristy things, like key chains and postcards. Next to the postcards, Madeline saw that there were maps. Perfect! she thought, picking up her own copy.

"This too please," she said, quietly, handing it to the lady. She kept her eyes averted from her gaze, praying she wouldn't be recognized.

"Sure thing honey," the lady said, with a sweet southern drawl. She rang up the items, hummy a little tune as she did so. Madeline stood there awkwardly, wishing she would hurry up. She wanted to get out of the town of Springwhich as soon as possible, so she wouldn't be noticed.

Finally, the lady handed her a bag with the map and the hat. "Thanks," said Madeline hurriedly, rushing out the door. There was definitely a lot more people out then there was before she went into the clothing store. Madeline's heart started to pound. She felt her hands grow clammy and she had a shaking feeling in her stomach. This happened to her right before she had to go in front of a crowd or when she had to talk to someone she wasn't comfortable with. She needed to get out of there.

Main street seemed to be surrounded by woods, with little pathways leading off to other parts of the town. But all of Springwhich's main town was on the street. Madeline didn't know what path she should take, because she didn't want to end up in a different part of Springwhich she wanted to get out. She went to stand over on the side of the street, parking herself on a nearby bench. She took her back off from her back, then took out the items she had purchased. She put the candy in her backpack and took the tags off of the hat, placing it on her head. She then pulled out the map opening it. She was grateful to find that Springwhich was not that large of a town. The only problem was that there wasn't many back roads. Almost all roads that led to any other towns, were main traveling roads and Madeline wanted to avoid those at all costs.

She finally decided on a small path, wasn't really a path at all. It look more like a small hiking trail that wasn't in much use. At least, that was all that she could tell of it from the map. She stood up, tossed her garbage into a nearby trashcan and tried to locate the path. She walked down main street, looking left and right at the paths ways. She finally came across the path she was looking for. She glanced to her left and to her right, making sure no one was following her or payed any attention to her before she started on the path.

~

Madeline had been walking for hours. She had stopped at around one o'clock to eat something, but then continued on her way. The path had not been as straight forward going as Madeline originally thought. It had led her down many twists and turns, which Madeline hoped was going to be good in the long run.

Night had fallen on the country of Osprey and Madeline was looking for a place to sleep. She had slept on the ground the previous night, but she didn't really want tonight on this night. The night sky was so clear, Madeline could see stars shining for miles. And deep in the woods, all of the tree's branches were very low to the ground, making them easy to climb. Madeline was suddenly struck with an idea.

Madeline decided she was going to sleep in a tree that night. When she was younger, she used to always be playing outside and climbing up in trees. Her dad had called her a little monkey. However, when she got older and started to have more responsibilities she wasn't allowed to climb trees. Her mother constantly reminded her it wasn't ladylike. Well, out here, she didn't have to be lady like.

She scoured the woods looking for the perfect tree to sleep in. It needed to be one that was easy to climb, but also offered a comfortable place to set herself for the night. After looking and walking for awhile, Madeline found the perfect tree. The tree had lovely branches right at the bottom to climb and a little farther up it had a nice big sturdy branch for her to sit and rest on. Madeline made her way up the tree, scurrying like the little monkey she used to be.

When she reached the big branch, she threw her left leg over it, sitting as if she were riding a horse. She then pulled her back off from her back, reached in a pulled out her blanket. She then placed her backpack on the trunk of the tree, using it as a pillow. Madeline threw the blanket over herself, snuggling (as much as you could snuggle on a tree) down for the night.

She was completely exhausted from her travels, so her eyes drifted off to sleep as soon as her head touched her backpack. Her last thought before soaring away to dreamland was how happy she was to be free.