The Mapmaker and the Ghost(26)

She had to focus, though. She reached her hand to get a good hold on one of the stems. Almost as soon as she did, she pulled it back with a yelp. A small but growing drop of blood had appeared on her finger. Goldenrod looked closer at where she had touched the stem and could now make out the tiny, almost imperceptible, but razor-sharp thorns that seemed to cover just about the entire thing. Gently, she reached for the petals of the flower instead, trying to get a grip on them so she could cut the plant. Before she had a chance to snip, though, the most extraordinary thing happened.

One second, her finger was sore and bleeding somewhat heavily. And the next, she could see the blood draw its way back in and the wound close up. Goldenrod stared in utter astonishment. Her finger didn’t have a scratch on it.

What it did have though, a second later, was a large green glob that had arced its way through the sky and landed right on top of her finger. Goldenrod looked up just in time to see Snotshot running toward her from only about ten feet away.

“Run!” she yelled to Birch, as she grabbed her jar and shears and started to sprint after him through the trees.

They had a decent head start, but Snotshot was still hard on their heels. Birds flew with startled cries, and leaves and twigs snapped away in their paths as they tried to make their escape.

When Goldenrod allowed herself one peek behind to see just how far away their pursuer was, she was startled to instead be staring at a see-through maroon coat.

“Meriwether!” she yelled, still continuing to run. Meriwether didn’t seem to have a problem gliding beside and matching her speed, though he looked just as dignified and unruffled as ever.

Out of the corner of her eye, Goldenrod could see that Snotshot was gaining on them. “Why don’t you do something?” she said in exasperation to the ghost.

“Like what?” Meriwether asked.

“I don’t know. You’re a ghost! Go scare her,” Goldenrod said.

“Oh,” Meriwether said. “That is a good idea. Unfortunately, I’m not that kind of ghost. You’re the only one who can see me.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re the only one on the quest to find my lost discovery,” Meriwether said.

“Seriously?” The breaking twig sounds from behind Goldenrod seemed to be getting closer and closer. “But you’ve discovered loads of other things,” she said. “What could possibly be so special about this one anyway?”

“It saved my life,” he said simply. Goldenrod could see him motion to his leg, the one with the limp. “And I have no doubt that it can save countless others too.”

Of course! The limp must have come from that time when Meriwether had been mistakenly shot by one of his own crew members. And hadn’t Goldenrod just seen with her own eyes what the rose could do with an injury?

Goldenrod had become so absorbed in these thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Birch slowing down considerably. Even though he had started out pretty far ahead, he was right beside her when he looked at her fearfully and asked, “Who are you talking to, Gol—” His question ended in a scream as he was jerked back.

Goldenrod looked over her shoulder to see that Snotshot was holding on to his backpack and, a moment later, his arm.

Goldenrod stopped running immediately. “Let him go!” she yelled.

“Yeah, right,” Snotshot said, not sounding nearly as out of breath as Goldenrod felt. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that big moron let you guys escape.”

Birch had started to whimper, and Goldenrod stared at him helplessly.

“So what’s the deal, girlie?” Snotshot asked. “Are you going to come quietly or are you going to just let me take your brother back with me?”





19

PLAN B


“Don’t leave me alone with them!” Birch yelled.

Of course, she couldn’t do that. But she couldn’t very well just merrily let both of them get kidnapped again either. What kind of Legendary Adventurer would go along with that?

“What do you want?” she finally asked Snotshot. There was really nothing else to do but be straightforward at this point.

“You’re not very bright, are you? Didn’t I just say you have to come back to the cave with me?” Snotshot asked slowly, as if speaking to a particularly stupid puppy.

So never mind. Being straightforward didn’t seem to be the correct option with someone like Snotshot. Goldenrod was going to have to answer her own question. Think, she willed herself and then asked, What does Spitbubble’s crew actually want? “Money!” she suddenly blurted out. “You want money, don’t you?” she said as she thought about what she knew of Toe Jam’s coin.

“Sure. Do you have some? I’ve got no problem unloading it off of you as soon as we get you locked away, safe and sound,” Snotshot said.

“No. I know a way you can make some money.”

“By holding you for ransom?” Snotshot retorted.

Goldenrod hesitated one moment longer. She didn’t particularly like what she was about to do, but she couldn’t see any other way out of this mess. “There’s this plant,” she finally said. “It’s undiscovered flora …,” she trailed off.

“What are you talking about?” Snotshot asked.

“What are you doing?” a voice asked from beside her. She turned around to see that Meriwether was still standing there. She had almost forgotten about him.