The Road to Newtopia (The Calamity Girls Book 2)

Night Drivers

I am writing these chapters based on the chronological order the season is supposed to be in, so this chapter and Return to Wartwood are before The Shut-in. -Mal.

The ride was relaxing. I was writing in my journal for the last few hours. There was only one problem, Hop Pop have been driving all night. "Alright, guys, check this out, according to this map, if we drive straight through the night, we'll be home by morning!" Sprig exclaimed. "Say home again." Polly sighed. "Just think, home for breakfast." Sprig said. "Pillbug pancakes." Polly drooled. "Hanging out with Ivy, not that it's a big deal." Sprig explains as the fwagon comes to a stop and Hop Pop and Anne came down from the hatch. "Where do you guys think you're going?" Polly asked. "We got a schedule to keep!" "Guys, we've been driving nonstop for like, 20 hours!" Anne groaned. "And who's fault is that?" I asked. "Hop Pop wouldn't let me drive, you could've asked me to take the wheel." "Just a little shuteye and we'll be back on the road by morning." Hop Pop yawned. "But, we're so close!" Sprig begged. "Can't you just power through one more night, please, I wanna sleep in a real bed?" Polly added. "I know how you guys feel, but you're not the ones who have to drive." Anne explains. "Once again, you guys could've asked me." I commented. "I've got an idea, why don't you two sleep, and we can get us home." Sprig suggested. "Yeah, remember how we owned Quarreler's Pass?" Polly remarks. "All I remember from that day is Hop Pop getting pushed off the fwagon after mentioning he-who-must-not-be-named." I said. "Oh, you sweet, ignorant kids, Amphibia changes at night, and not for the better, let me tell ya, the nocturnal leech flies are bad enough, but I've even heard folks tell of evil spirits wandering these parts, real spookums and such, haven't seen any myself, of course, but, you know, could happen." Hop Pop explains. "Plus, neither of you read Bessie's driving manual." "But, actually, I..." I started. "No buts, none of you are driving and that's final!" Hop Pop snapped as him and Anne flopped onto the bed.

I sat outside with Sprig and Polly while Anne and Hop Pop got some sleep. "This is messed up, sure we're young and made mistakes, but we've proven we can handle ourselves!" Polly complained. "I know, right, what in the world could be so dangerous out there that we haven't lived through already?" Sprig asked. "Hop Pop told me I couldn't drive, but I tried to tell him that I read Bessie's manual when you guys did Quarreler's Pass, also, sometimes I feel like I don't even exist." I said. "I was eaten 8 times, guys, 8 times." Polly continued. "I sort of look forward to it now." "Wait a sec, Hop Pop and Anne are asleep, right?" Sprig asked. "So if they're asleep, they won't even know if we take the reins and drive us home right now." "But when they wake up, they're gonna know we drove home." I commented. "But, they'll be so grateful to be home, they'll completely forget to be mad at us!" Sprig exclaimed. "Sprig, you creepy little genius!" Polly cheered. "You sure that they're not gonna wake up, though, right?" "Oh, absolutely, those two are out cold, but I'm gonna be the one driving." I replied. "Hey, do you think that Anne and Hop Pop will have any dreams?" Sprig asked.

"Alright, let's do this!" I took the reins and began driving. "Rowena, have I ever told you you're such a good night driver?" Polly asked. "Why, thank you, Polly." I replied when Bessie made a stop by a sign that said beware of falling rocks. "Well, end of the line, guys, there's no way we can dodge a couple of little pebbles." Sprig said as Polly and I laughed with him. We moved forward and a rock fell towards the fwagon. "That's a big rock." More rocks began to fall as we drove through, surprisingly avoiding every rock. "Well, we obviously nailed that, but should we stop?" I asked. "No way, that all you got, night driving?" Polly scoffed nervously. "Then, away we go." Sprig said as I continued driving.

A little bit later, we drove through this spooky forest, let's just say we found a few frog corpses. "Could this place get any creepier?" Polly asked. "Wait, who's that?" Polly pointed out a shadowy figure in the distance, which looked more like a human than a frog, toad, or newt. "Kinda reminds me of this man named Fiddleford McGucket I met over the summer." I explained. "What's our policy on hitchhikers?" Polly asked. "Just play cool, maybe he's friendly." Sprig replied. "Hey there, mister, like that hat, anything we can help you with today?" The hitchhiker was silent. The lightning revealed him having a hook and a creepy face. "Punch it, Rowena!" Polly screamed as I drove off to safety. "Well, that was close." I sighed in relief. "Good thing we're way too good at night driving." "Preach!" Polly shouts. We drove up to another sign. "The Foggy Fjords?" Sprig wondered. "How foggy could it be?"

After driving in fog for a while, Sprig and Polly grabbed onto my shirt. "What do you even think those things even are?" Polly asked. "I don't have the foggiest idea?" Sprig joked as I nudged him with my shoulder. "Wait a second, I can't see the road anymore." I said. "Guys, are we even going the right way?" "Hey, there's someone!" Polly cheered. "Maybe we can ask them?" As some of the fog cleared up, the hitchhiker was revealed. "Holy frog abuse it's the hitchhiker!" I exclaimed. "It can't be, don't make eye contact." Sprig explains. "A fork in the road, and he's pointing left. "Rowena, go right!" Polly shouts as I turned.

We went through a horrific path with monsters and weapons and robots. "Where's the hitchhiker, did we lose him?" Sprig asked. "I think so." I replied. "Definitely, there's no way he could follow us." Polly added as the hitchhiker was right on top of the fwagon. We all screamed as the hitchhiker took the reins with his hook. "He's trying to steal our wagon!" "Oh no you don't." Sprig said as we fought over the reins. "That's it!" Polly screamed. "Take that, you creeper!" "Polly, no!" I exclaimed as the hitchhiker caught her by the bow. "I've been hooked!" Polly shouts as he grabbed the reins and tried to get Bessie to stop. "Polly, Rowena, you impaled?" Sprig asked. "No, not yet." She replied. "I'm fine." I added. "Me too." Sprig said. "The hitchhiker, he's gone." "And not only that, look where we are, guys!" Polly exclaimed, pointing at the valley they called home. "Good thing we stopped when we did, we would've been goners." I sighed. "Yeah, and it's all because we're the greatest night drivers ever..." Polly said before screaming. "It's the hitchhiker, he's back!" "Wait a minute, it's a statue." Sprig explains. "It's says here that this monument is dedicated to Zachariah Nettles, who spent his days guiding travelers away from danger on their way back home." "Guys, what if that hitchhiker wasn't trying to hurt us, he was trying to help us." I said. "He did try to make us take that other path." Polly comments. "Between that, stopping us from driving off this cliff, and how he just disappeared?" Sprig wondered. "I don't think there's any way around it." "You telling me that hitchhiker was the ghost of old Zachariah, returning from the grave to do us a solid?" Polly asked. "Sure seems like it." I replied when Hop Pop and Anne woke up. "What the heck in a hand basket is going on out here?!" Hop Pop exclaimed. "You better not have disobeyed me, dang it, of all the irresponsible, inconsiderate, juvenile..." "Wait, HP, look at them." Anne said as Sprig, Polly, and I fell asleep by the statue.