Whisked Away

54. A Giant's Bridge and a Suprise

"Keep on," Puddleglum hissed, "Move towards them. Anyone you meet up in a place like this is as likely as not an enemy, but we mustn't let them think we're afraid."

When they had reached us, the woman with a shining smile exclaimed, "Good day travelers! Some of you are young pilgrims to walk this rough waste."

"That's as may be Ma'am," the marsh-wiggle replied stiffly.

"We're looking for the ruined city of the lost giants," Jill explained causing me to internally wince. Why would she tell her our business? I discreetly kicked her in the shin, but said nothing.

"The ruined city?" she was saying, "That is a strange place to be seeking. What will you do if you find it?"

"We've got to..." Jill began, but I cut her off.

Clearing my throat, I voiced, "I'm afraid that is hardly any business of yours, fair lady, or of your knight in not so shinning armor."

The lady let out a musical, trilling laugh that made the hair on my neck prickle. Looking at her, I attempted to find that layer of jelly, but it wasn't jelly. She had a wall around her. I carefully tried to find a weak point to break in, but only found one small one. Carefully, I tried to weasel my way in, but nothing.

"Well children, you have a wise, solemn guild with you. I think none the worse of her for keeping her own council, but I'll be free with mine. I have often..." her mouth was saying one thing, but I heard another in her voice, yet so much more sinister, "You think I'd let some amateur get into my mind? To laugh at the thought. I'll make you feel this for a while." I had to bite back a scream as pain exploded in my head.

I felt it coursing through my mind like I was being stabbed by a million hot pokers and being stabbed with a thousand needles on top of that. When the witch was walking on, I finally let myself groan. The pain hadn't stopped with her departure. Only when she was fully to the top of the stope did I gain some respite.

"I wish we knew a bit more about her," Puddleglum was saying.

"I was going to ask her about herself," Jill defended, "But how could I when you," here she looked at me scornfully, "wouldn't tell her anything about us."

"Don't start on her," Zyan countered, "You don't know who or what that was anymore than I do. For all we know she's the one who kidnapped Rilian!"

Eustace stopped the fight that was blooming between Jill and Zyan by asking, "And why were you four so stiff and unpleasant? Didn't you like them?"

"Them?" Puddleglum questioned, "Who's them?"

Zyanister cut in, adding, "I only saw one."

"Didn't you see the knight?" Eustace asked.

"I saw armor," Zyanister retorted, leaning back against one of the pillars. "We've no way to say what was actually in the armor."

"How about a skeleton," Puddleglum guessed.

"Or someone invisible," Zyan supplied.

"Or a beast," Zyanister added.

"Maybe," Puddleglum continued after a moment's thought, "It was a rotting corpse."

"Really?" Jill asked with a shudder, "you do have the most horrible ideas, all of you. How do you think of them all?"

"Oh bother their ideas!" Eustace exclaimed, "Puddleglum is always expecting the worst and he's always wrong. I don't know what's up with those two, but you're all wrong."

"No," I finally said, "I-I can get into people's heads and feel what they feel, think what they think. For most people when I go into their mind it's as if I'm going through a layer of jelly and then I have complete access to their minds, but when I tried with her...I was met with a brick wall. She did something to me, I felt a scorching pain and it only faded when she was gone over that slope."

"Well why'd you try to go in her mind?" Eustace asked indignantly.

"That's a complete invasion of privacy!" Jill added.

"No, she was right," Zyan replied, "we don't know who we can trust and that is the safest way to find out. Now we know we can't trust her."

"No we don't!" Jill exclaimed shrilly, "All we know is that Shifra goes into our minds and snoops around."

"Shut up!" Zyanister yelled, "You know not of what you speak! You are insolent fool! Can't you see that she is trying to protect us in the easiest way that she knows how?"

Fire danced in Jill eyes as she retorted, "Protect us! From what? What is there to protect us from in that kind lady?"

Stepping forward, Zyanister countered, "It is very easy to appear one way and act the exact polar opposite the next moment! You can't just blindly trust people like that!"

"And besides," Zyan retorted, "we have more experience than you do, Shifra has more than all of us combined so maybe we should just listen to her for once!" The three were now glaring at one another: Jill at the two boys and the two boys at Jill. We soon set out, more than a few of us unhappy with another.