The Looking Glass Chapter Four

You guys have absolutely no clue how happy you've made me. There are two - count 'em, two!! - people who want to read more of The Looking Glass. Yay! Thanks so much, you guys! Here is chapter four. Once again, if you're joining us a bit late, here's the previous posts:

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four:

Holly clutched the handle to her suitcase and readjusted her purse and backpack. She couldn't believe that she was finally on her way to France! The last few days had been pretty crazy, but totally worth all of the trouble. Holly's best friend Bex was on vacation, so Holly had left a note in their secret mailbox. As close as she and Bex were, Holly hadn't been able to bring herself to tell Bex about Aeroth. She had simply said, "Bex, Jared and I have kinda made up, so he wants me to come to Europe with him on his graduation trip. I'll call you if I get a chance. Luv ya, girl! Hols"

"Holly, keep up, squirt!" Jared called over his shoulder, "You'd think we were taking you to prison with you walking so slow!"

Holly grinned and said, "I was thinking."

"That's why you were going so slow," Jared teased, "Not very good at multitasking, are you? Walking and thinking at the same time..." he let his voice trail off as Holly stuck her tongue out at him. She broke into a trot to catch up with him, then matched his pace with only minor difficulty. Their parents were just a little ahead of them, Mrs. Spencer was almost more excited than the kids.

"It'll be the first time I've been to Europe in 20 years!" She said happily. "Remember our honeymoon, sweetheart?" Mr. Spencer smiled and nodded. "I went a couple of times before that, too. I love France and Italy! I sometimes think it would be a good idea to move there!"

Mr. Spencer laughed and said, "Living there would be totally different than vacationing there. I'd have to work, and you'd have to clean. It would be the same life in a different location."

Holly couldn't help bouncing a little in her seat as the plane took off an hour later. She turned around to smile at Jared, who was in the seat behind her. He chuckled a little, finding his sister's enthusiasm contagious. Not that he needed more enthusiasm! He ran a finger along his camera and grinned, leaning forward.

"I'm glad I got a window seat, but those stupid wings!"

"They're the wings that are taking us to adventure!" Holly admonished. "Hopefully one of our flights will have a better view for you. And better windows, too. My window is filthy! You'd never get a good picture!"

Jared brushed his hand along his window and nodded in agreement. Holly turned to face forward again and settled in for the trip.

"Agh," Holly moaned, "How can a person be so tired and achy after sleeping for so long?"

"Are you going to be okay, dear?" Mrs. Spencer asked.

"I'll be fine." Holly craned her neck, looking at the airport. "It doesn't look all that different," she commented, "I don't know why, but I was expecting a French airport to be different somehow."

"Try talking to someone and you'll figure out that there is a big difference," Jared said, rolling his shoulders. "Man! When I first got on that plane I thought, 'Wow, this is a spacious plane.' but now I'm seeing that even a spacious plane is rather cramped!" Everyone nodded in agreement. Mr. Spencer talked to a man at a desk, then steered the family through the airport. A moment later they were loading their luggage into a taxi and heading for the hotel. The drive was a quick one, and before Holly knew it, she was in a hotel room. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer would share one bed, Holly would sleep on the other, and Jared would use the couch. Holly bit back a grin as she thought of her parent's conversation.

"One room?" Mr. Spencer had asked in surprise.

"Yes, dear. This whole trip is going to be expensive, so I'm just trying to save money in any way that I can!"

"But the trip is for Jared, and you know he's not going to have Holly sleeping on a hotel couch. The guest of honor is going to have the worst sleeping place!"

"Jared wants to go camping for pity's sake! He's not going to mind being stuck on a couch! A hotel couch will be a great deal more comfortable than the ground!"

Holly flopped down on the bed and sighed. "I love Paris already!" she said, "This bed is so comfortable!"

"Well, get ready to go eat some dinner, then we can come back and you can sleep in it."

"What's the order of events, mom?" Jared asked from the doorway.

"Did you guys want to rough it first and come back to relax and recover? Or relax in preparation for roughing it?" Mr. Spencer asked before Mrs. Spencer had a chance to answer the question.

Holly bounced on the bed as she said, "Let's rough it first!"

"Jared?"

"I'm with Holly. I want to get out there and see the rugged woods. It's supposed to be a full moon on Saturday night - I wish I could be in the city and in the country to get pictures, but the moon rising over a tree out in the country will probably be my top pick for a good shot."

"Okay. We'll get you guys on the bus tomorrow, then," Mrs. Spencer said.

All through dinner and as she lay in bed that night, Holly couldn't stop thinking about how close she was to discovering the truth of her grandfather's tale. She was in France now! Maybe within 24 hours she would be in another world! Holly sat up and stepped over to the window, looking out on the beautiful city. Glancing outside, she saw a bright star hanging above the city.

"Star light, star bright," she whispered, "First star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight. Please let Aeroth be there!"

"Holly!" Mr. Spencer hissed, "Get in bed. There's a lot to do tomorrow and you won't want to be tired."

"Yes, sir." Holly said quietly, jumping back into her bed. She suppressed a squeal of excitement, wriggling down into her covers before dropping off.

"We get off at the next stop." Jared said. There wasn't even a hint of excitement in his voice, but Holly knew that it was just a cover-up. Jared had been unable to eat either breakfast or lunch. Usually he ate three meals a day with enthusiasm in spite of his snacking all day long. She craned her neck to look out at the French countryside. It was rather nice, but she couldn't seem to focus.

"Jared," Holly said, "You should take a picture of that little farm over there."

"I'll get it some other time. We're taking the same route back to Paris, you know."

Holly nodded, then her mouth dropped open. "Jared!" she hissed, glancing at the other passengers, "Grandpa didn't tell me how to get back!"

"Someone will know. I hope." Jared said quietly, "But let's not talk about it now. I really don't want anyone getting an idea of what we're doing."

The last 15 minutes of the bus ride seemed like an eternity, but as Holly shouldered her backpack and followed Jared out of the bus station, she realized that the trip had been much quicker than she had anticipated. She picked up her pace as she noticed that Jared was getting ahead.

"Aren't we going to call a taxi?" she asked.

"Why should we? It's only about a mile into the woods, then we just have to find the cottage."

"I'm getting scared," Holly admitted before she even knew what she was saying, "We're going into a forest basically trying to get lost!"

Jared laughed. "Don't you trust me to get you out all right?"

"Get me out of the woods, yes. But there's nothing that we can predict about Aeroth! I might be eaten by a giant or something!" Holly shuddered.

"I thought the giant was killed when Jack cut down the beanstalk."

"Ha ha," Holly said, "That's very funny. Not all of the stories of our world have been recorded in our world, so how can our world have recorded all of the stories of another world? There's probably a lot more giants."

"That's confusing, but I see what you mean," Jared replied. He stepped off the sidewalk of the small town and headed toward the line of trees that announced the edge of the forest. Holly stayed right behind him, her heart thudding loudly. This was it! They were going into the woods that would either prove their grandfather's story, or prove his insanity. Sticks crunched under their feet as they entered the woods. Holly bit her tongue and said, "How big exactly is this forest? Is there a chance that we could wander here all weekend and not find the house?"

"I suppose that would be a possibility," Jared said, "But I'm thinking that we'll get there. We know which side of the woods it's on, and grandpa found it within a few hours."

"But it must be somewhat hidden," Holly countered, "Otherwise a lot of people would know about Aeroth. Unless this descendant of Snow White just really liked grandfather and only told him even after such a short acquaintanceship."

The two walked for 45 minutes, and Holly was beginning to feel tired when Jared said, "Hey, this looks like an old trail! I don't think it's been used for awhile, but it sure looks like a trail." He turned off onto the little path, his own energy apparently renewed. Holly felt herself shaking and wondered if Jared was even half as tense as she was. They continued down the trail for another half an hour before Holly found herself yelling, "Jared! I see it! There's a little cottage!" She broke into a run, Jared following her lead. When they reached the little house they found that it was falling apart and very dirty. Jared knocked on the door but gave no time for an answer. Holly wasn't even sure why he had knocked. If there was anyone in the house, they would have been dead for awhile for the house to look this bad. As they stepped through the door, Holly caught her breath. There against the wall was a big, beautiful mirror.