"You were the one that sssuggested that tunnel!" Mary shouted. "The only consssolation I have isss that I don't turn into more of a beassst every night."
The situation was quickly becoming perilous. Heather, Alice and Sharon stepped back, wondering what to do. A quick, wordless glance between them was all they needed. They nodded, and turned tail, running from the two strange girls.
Not stopping until they were far away, they weren't exactly sure where in the forest they were, or how far from either edge they were. All told though, they were simply glad to be away from Mary and Jennifer, even though they were in some disagreement as to which was trustworthy.
"This proves I was right," Alice said smugly, "She can't have been giving us the whole story. Besides, what was with the streaks in her hair?"
"It doesn't prove anything. We can't trust the snake girl either," Heather said, "and as for Jennifer's hair, she's been here a long time. We don't know what she's been through."
"True, but what about this amazon tribe? That's pretty hard to swallow."
Sharon seemed lost in thought. Then, she spoke, "Listen."
"What?" Alice said, "I don't hear anything!"
"Listen harder!" Sharon said urgently.
As the trio strained to hear, they were able to pick up a faint beat, like faraway drums. Sharon listened for a second, then walked cautiously in the direction of the sound. The other two followed, and as they came to the crest of a ridge, the noise grew louder.
Looking down into the valley on the other side, a ribbon of smoke rose up from a camp of tents. Moving through the camp were women dressed as barbarians in furs and pilfered piecemeal armor. In the fire, one was tempering a sword. All bore the obvious marks of the caves in their proportions and wild hair, though some bore oddities that spoke of a different change. Amongst them were a few that bore silver streaks at their temples like Jennifer. Still others had genuinely white hair, and a few had hair of orange and black, like the stripes of a tiger. Not all bore these aberrations, however, though they all seemed feral and sinuous in their movements. They did not seem to have noticed the trio on the ridge yet.
"Well," Heather whispered, "That seems to answer a few questions about Jennifer, as well as give us a disturbing sneak preview of what might be in store for us. Looks like she was on the level."
"Could be," Alice whispered back, "or they could both be lying. Still, this is a a little odd."
"Need do something," Sharon said quietly, "We run long time. Sun almost down..."
Tue Mar 4 04:06:13 2003