Fourteen

Edeline spent another cold night on the ground. She could not even fathom the idea of sleeping in a tree, and was amazed at how comfortable the others were at doing it. Baudry in particular seemed to her like an orangutan, sprawled belly-down as he was on a not-too-steady-looking branch, arms dangling below it, head precariously perched on its side. Yet there he was, snoring away peacefully while she tossed and turned on the duff not too far away, yet far enough that in case he did tumble down, at least he wouldn't be landing on her. Her ivy dress clung to her tightly, as if it wanted to warm her up, but it didn't help much. The night air was chilly and the sounds of the forest were enough by themselves to keep her from sleeping well. She did sleep, though, in snatches here and there, but every waking was accompanied by shivering and what she considered to be quite rational fears of being bitten or attacked by terrifying nocturnal creatures. The only animals she heard or saw, however, were owls and possums and crickets, none of whom intended any harm.
She replayed in her mind a number of scenes from the previous two days, making an attempt to come to terms with what had befallen her. That her old life was gone she began to accept. Although it seemed impossible that there was no way out of the forest - more than impossible, it was ludicrous, and to accept it was to abandon all sense of the way the world worked - she had an easier time believing that there was no going back, even if she held out hope of getting out of there somehow. She understood that unless she began to visibly age, she would only get rounded up once again and shipped back in here in the unlikely event of escape. She was having a harder time undoing the habits of her physical self-image. All of those years when she thought she was aging, she actually wasn't. She was beginning to realize it now, as she felt her skin and examined her face with her fingers for wrinkles and found there were none. It just might be true, she thought, as she remembered with both sadness and fondness her husband's approving and lascivious glances at her through the years. He was always infatuated with her, and that feeling had grown ever stronger the longer the two were together. How many times had he told her, and she hadn't believed, how beautiful she was, how wonderful she looked, how it seemed that she'd never grow old. Had he known or suspected? He must have, she thought, but maybe he didn't. Maybe he was forgetful, like her, ignoring the stories they heard of immortals, pretending they didn't exist, because if they did, then terrible crimes had been done, and no one, hardly anyone that is, had come to their aid.
Edeline had other worries to keep her company throughout the cold night. She had assumed that the task given to them by The Hidden One had been meant to end their captivity. It was only when Baudry had hinted otherwise that she even considered that she might have been wrong about that. If she wanted to live, then the quest might not be what she wanted? Wasn't that what he'd said? But if not to live, then, what? To die? Why would anyone want that? The answer came trickling to her like drops of water slowly falling. Some of them were more than a hundred years old. Ember had been trapped as a little girl for what seemed forever to her. The Hidden One might be a hundred twenty eight, unable to move, barely able to speak very long. Even Barque, even Baudry, were much older than they seemed. And if there was no escape? The thought was astounding. Of course they'd been trying for years! They were trapped in some sort of a supernatural maze. Yes, she could see where they might want to end their ordeal.
It hardly seemed, though, like the task they were given could possibly accomplish that goal, or any other end, as far as she could imagine. To find a place where there was a thing and take that thing to some other place and put it somewhere so a squirrel could eat it? She very nearly burst out laughing with the realization of her situation's total absurdity, which came with the dawn, and the others beginning to awaken as well.
Somehow her insights gave her a lift, and it was cheerfully that she set about gathering berries for breakfast. Up until then she'd been only observing, but now she carefully applied what she'd learned, twisting the berries off in just the right way so they'd grow back immediately, and she smiled, admiring her newfound skills. She worried she might have collected too many as she returned to the camp with a whole raft of fruit, but Ember was happy to greet her and take some of the load off her hands.
"Very nice," Ember said. "You've done well, I can tell."
"Thanks," Edeline answered brightly.
Baudry came climbing down from his roost, and Barque appeared out of nowhere, with Princess in tow. He had brought a handful of some kind of shavings that tasted like licorice, and handed the pieces around.
"Map Makers, eh?" he queried to unanimous consent.
"And I suppose someone knows where to find them," he added, to which everyone shook their heads 'no'.
"Well, at least we know where we want to be going, even if we have no idea where to actually go," he said with a laugh.
"They're not in the game," Ember shrugged. "Otherwise I could see them. I can send out some feelers, however," and with that she closed her eyes and lapsed into deep concentration.
"What's she doing?" Edeline whispered to Baudry, who leaned over and replied very quietly,
"Reaching out with her mind. She can do that, you know."
"No I don't know," Edeline murmured, thinking "of course I don't know. I don't know anything about all you people."
Everyone was quiet for several minutes while Ember worked on her mission.
"They've been seen by the lake," she announced, opening her eyes.
"We could reach it today if we set a good pace," Baudry added.
"Then I say we're off," Barque concluded, and set on ahead while the others hustled to follow. Ember caught up to him rapidly, while Baudry and Edeline struggled to keep them in sight.