SWNOVELS Chapter 38
There was a distant noise of feet and doors opening. Kimberly looked behind, her face suddenly flushed with fear, and they both ran out, and towards the end of a hallway. But more footsteps sounded from the other side as well.
Quickly Wendell opened a small door, the only one in the long hallway, and she went through. Now they both went through more doors and passageways, until Wendell realized she was gone. But he had to keep on going, there was no way back now!
He kept on for a while longer, but suddenly he felt a pang of regret. He realized that, although she was rather aloof and not always nice, he actually missed having Kimberly around, and he thought that perhaps he should go and find her, and not leave her to the ogres again. She was rather scrappy, and could come in useful in finding Karen, of course.
But there was no time now! He stopped. No, he couldn’t just leave her to be locked up again in this terrible place! It felt so heartless somehow. Turning about, he drew the dagger and listened by a corner. There was a sound of frantic yelling, a girl’s voice, and something bellowing with grunty pain.
Quickly Wendell ran down the hallway, and followed the distant rumble of footsteps now.
Eventually, after a lot of twists and turns, he found himself sneaking behind a procession of horrible kinds of ogres, always waiting one step behind them. He peered around the top of a small staircase, carved dangerously narrow out of the side of a wall, and watched. Even if he did catch up, what could he do about it?
Kimberly hadn’t been the best of friends, but he felt a dismal indignation welling up inside anyhow. It must be horrid to be chained up in that tower, never to leave!
Without thinking, he ran up the last step and into the corridor, but the footsteps were gone. He realized now where he was, he was outside the hallway where the two strange men had been, but he didn’t stop now. He sprinted up to the portal, and suddenly they were there again, sitting in their chairs.