had taken from Dennison back at the River Nye, but he was worried it would not be sufficient. He went back to the General Store and picked up a bow, some arrows and a quiver. The old man was still grumpy from their previous encounter, but he gladly accepted Gentry’s gold pieces and held his tongue.
Gentry stopped by the stable at Otto’s Place to say good-bye to Casper. “I shall be back soon, my friend,” he said in response to Casper’s neighs. He then paid Otto for ten days of boarding and headed out to find Pikes Road and the path to Mt. Xavier.
Otto watched from his window as Gentry walked down the old road with the large bag on his back and quiver on his shoulder. He then scribbled a note and carefully tied it around Max’s foot. “Hurry, my friend. The Lady must be warned.” With that he released the bird out the window and watched him fly towards the purple mountain.
*************
It did not take long to reach Mt. Xavier – the base of the purple mountain was just a few hours walk from the Village of Yukon – but Gentry knew that it would be slow going as he started his ascent. By nightfall the first day he was still quite close to the base and felt as though he had not made any progress at all. On a positive note, there were still plenty of trees to be found at the lower elevations and Gentry had no trouble starting a fire. Over the next day and a half, Gentry hiked slowly up the mountainside, carefully skirting around narrow ledges and climbing the remnants of numerous rockslides. Otto was right , he thought. There is no way Casper could have made this part of the journey.
He had just come around a big bend in the trail when he faced an unwelcome sight: the trail split into three separate paths leading in different directions up the mountain. The entire time he had been hiking up the mountain he had been searching in vain for any signs of Lady Dinah’s castle, but even though the trees were becoming more and more scarce, he had not seen anything except snowdrifts and rocks. Not having any better plan, he decided to tackle the path to the left first, and if that did not take him to the castle he would retrace his steps and try the middle path, and so on and so forth.
He hiked for hours until the day’s light had grown so dim it was not safe to take any other steps lest he slip off the edge of the trail and down the unforgiving purple mountain. It was becoming harder and harder to find any wood for his fire, but the kindling sticks were proving useful for the few scraps of wood he had managed to gather along the way. He nibbled on stale bread and fell into a restless sleep on the cold rocks of the mountainside.
The next day he hiked a few more hours. He came around another bend in the trail and stopped dead in his tracks; the trail split into three paths again. This split looked remarkably similar to the first one, but Gentry was not certain if he had come full circle, or if he had found yet another three-way split. He retraced his steps a little in hopes of recollecting whether he had been there before or not, but it was of no use - the mountain all looked the same to him now. He cursed himself for not having the foresight to leave some sort of mark when he came across the first split, but he knew that was not quite fair. How could I have known that I would come across another three-way split that looked the same?
Gentry pulled out Dennison’s knife and carved notches into a small but sturdy rock near the edge of the trail before heading up the path to the left. He figured there was no reason to change course just yet, and whether it was the first split or the second, it would be easier to remember that he had always gone to the left if he was forced to retrace his steps.
He had been hiking again for a few hours when he realized it was growing dark already, only this time it was not because the sun was setting. Dark clouds were quickly snaking around the mountaintops and obscuring the rays of
Gentry stopped by the stable at Otto’s Place to say good-bye to Casper. “I shall be back soon, my friend,” he said in response to Casper’s neighs. He then paid Otto for ten days of boarding and headed out to find Pikes Road and the path to Mt. Xavier.
Otto watched from his window as Gentry walked down the old road with the large bag on his back and quiver on his shoulder. He then scribbled a note and carefully tied it around Max’s foot. “Hurry, my friend. The Lady must be warned.” With that he released the bird out the window and watched him fly towards the purple mountain.
*************
It did not take long to reach Mt. Xavier – the base of the purple mountain was just a few hours walk from the Village of Yukon – but Gentry knew that it would be slow going as he started his ascent. By nightfall the first day he was still quite close to the base and felt as though he had not made any progress at all. On a positive note, there were still plenty of trees to be found at the lower elevations and Gentry had no trouble starting a fire. Over the next day and a half, Gentry hiked slowly up the mountainside, carefully skirting around narrow ledges and climbing the remnants of numerous rockslides. Otto was right , he thought. There is no way Casper could have made this part of the journey.
He had just come around a big bend in the trail when he faced an unwelcome sight: the trail split into three separate paths leading in different directions up the mountain. The entire time he had been hiking up the mountain he had been searching in vain for any signs of Lady Dinah’s castle, but even though the trees were becoming more and more scarce, he had not seen anything except snowdrifts and rocks. Not having any better plan, he decided to tackle the path to the left first, and if that did not take him to the castle he would retrace his steps and try the middle path, and so on and so forth.
He hiked for hours until the day’s light had grown so dim it was not safe to take any other steps lest he slip off the edge of the trail and down the unforgiving purple mountain. It was becoming harder and harder to find any wood for his fire, but the kindling sticks were proving useful for the few scraps of wood he had managed to gather along the way. He nibbled on stale bread and fell into a restless sleep on the cold rocks of the mountainside.
The next day he hiked a few more hours. He came around another bend in the trail and stopped dead in his tracks; the trail split into three paths again. This split looked remarkably similar to the first one, but Gentry was not certain if he had come full circle, or if he had found yet another three-way split. He retraced his steps a little in hopes of recollecting whether he had been there before or not, but it was of no use - the mountain all looked the same to him now. He cursed himself for not having the foresight to leave some sort of mark when he came across the first split, but he knew that was not quite fair. How could I have known that I would come across another three-way split that looked the same?
Gentry pulled out Dennison’s knife and carved notches into a small but sturdy rock near the edge of the trail before heading up the path to the left. He figured there was no reason to change course just yet, and whether it was the first split or the second, it would be easier to remember that he had always gone to the left if he was forced to retrace his steps.
He had been hiking again for a few hours when he realized it was growing dark already, only this time it was not because the sun was setting. Dark clouds were quickly snaking around the mountaintops and obscuring the rays of
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