Read Online Emma and the Minotaur by Jon Herrera - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jon Herrera
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leaves of the trees began to change colour, signalling the beginning of autumn.
By marking the forest with ribbons, as well as marking their progress on her map, Emma could keep track of where they had already been, and it would prevent them from becoming disoriented and searching places that they had already searched.
It worked well in the beginning, Emma found, but as they moved farther north, mysterious cracks began to appear in the system. There were, with increasing frequency, times when a mark on the map did not match a ribbon on a tree, as though someone had gone around and rearranged some of them. Will questioned Emma’s ability to keep track of the endeavour but she checked and double-checked her map every night. Nevertheless, she let Will take charge of it for a couple of days and they found that the same inconsistencies continued to creep up.
At one point, Jake objected that maybe their map was out of date and Emma was forced to admit that it could be a possibility. She thought that she had been careful in her selection of it, but just to make sure that they had current data, she made another trip to the University’s Map Library and found the original map again. The date on the binder was from the previous year.
In two weeks, they ran out of ribbons and Emma had to find additional clothing from which to cut more. She was forced to go into the basement where they kept their storage boxes. These were stacked or strewn about and covered in dust. She stumbled across Christmas ornaments and winter clothing but she thought that she had better not cut into any of these or her father would be upset when winter time came around.
She found something that she could use in one of the boxes farthest back. There were dresses and skirts in it, but they were much too big for Emma. They looked as though they belonged to a grown woman. They helped Emma replenish her ribbon supply and she was able to continue to decorate the forest in that manner.
Emma made sure to always be the one to wrap the ribbons. The boys were too careless and could never tie a nice bow. She, on the other hand, made sure the ribbons looked good, as though they really were for decoration.
Despite all their care, the troubling paradoxes continued to arise and Emma became increasingly frustrated with their difficulties. She considered asking her father for advice but she couldn’t think of a roundabout way of doing it that wouldn’t reveal the entire enterprise to him.
It was at the peak of Emma’s frustration when everything came unravelled.
6
Strike Three
It was Tuesday morning and the sky was angry.
Emma woke up in a gray mood. She could tell immediately upon waking that it was a cloudy day. With heavy feet, she got out of bed and prepared for the day ahead.
Everything started to go wrong when Jake wasn’t on his bus. Emma was waiting for him by the school’s main entrance. Jake’s bus came and all the children inside filed out. There was no sign of the boy.
Emma stood there for a few moments, not sure about what, if anything, she should do. She imagined that Jake wouldn’t just disappear again without letting her know. There was probably a reasonable explanation why he wasn’t there but, in the back of Emma’s mind, something of a small panic began to grow. It was the fear that whatever had happened to Mr Milligan had now happened to Jake.
When she finally went to her classroom, Miss Robins saw her walk in and she took a pointed glance at her watch. Emma looked down at the floor and made her way to her desk.
The day’s math lesson was about reflections, translations, and rotations of different shapes. Emma knew all about it already but she tried her best to pay close attention and not to think about the empty chair near the door.
When it was time for recess, Emma stopped by the teacher’s desk to ask about Jake. If there was a reason for his absence then his mother might have called the school.
By marking the forest with ribbons, as well as marking their progress on her map, Emma could keep track of where they had already been, and it would prevent them from becoming disoriented and searching places that they had already searched.
It worked well in the beginning, Emma found, but as they moved farther north, mysterious cracks began to appear in the system. There were, with increasing frequency, times when a mark on the map did not match a ribbon on a tree, as though someone had gone around and rearranged some of them. Will questioned Emma’s ability to keep track of the endeavour but she checked and double-checked her map every night. Nevertheless, she let Will take charge of it for a couple of days and they found that the same inconsistencies continued to creep up.
At one point, Jake objected that maybe their map was out of date and Emma was forced to admit that it could be a possibility. She thought that she had been careful in her selection of it, but just to make sure that they had current data, she made another trip to the University’s Map Library and found the original map again. The date on the binder was from the previous year.
In two weeks, they ran out of ribbons and Emma had to find additional clothing from which to cut more. She was forced to go into the basement where they kept their storage boxes. These were stacked or strewn about and covered in dust. She stumbled across Christmas ornaments and winter clothing but she thought that she had better not cut into any of these or her father would be upset when winter time came around.
She found something that she could use in one of the boxes farthest back. There were dresses and skirts in it, but they were much too big for Emma. They looked as though they belonged to a grown woman. They helped Emma replenish her ribbon supply and she was able to continue to decorate the forest in that manner.
Emma made sure to always be the one to wrap the ribbons. The boys were too careless and could never tie a nice bow. She, on the other hand, made sure the ribbons looked good, as though they really were for decoration.
Despite all their care, the troubling paradoxes continued to arise and Emma became increasingly frustrated with their difficulties. She considered asking her father for advice but she couldn’t think of a roundabout way of doing it that wouldn’t reveal the entire enterprise to him.
It was at the peak of Emma’s frustration when everything came unravelled.
6
Strike Three
It was Tuesday morning and the sky was angry.
Emma woke up in a gray mood. She could tell immediately upon waking that it was a cloudy day. With heavy feet, she got out of bed and prepared for the day ahead.
Everything started to go wrong when Jake wasn’t on his bus. Emma was waiting for him by the school’s main entrance. Jake’s bus came and all the children inside filed out. There was no sign of the boy.
Emma stood there for a few moments, not sure about what, if anything, she should do. She imagined that Jake wouldn’t just disappear again without letting her know. There was probably a reasonable explanation why he wasn’t there but, in the back of Emma’s mind, something of a small panic began to grow. It was the fear that whatever had happened to Mr Milligan had now happened to Jake.
When she finally went to her classroom, Miss Robins saw her walk in and she took a pointed glance at her watch. Emma looked down at the floor and made her way to her desk.
The day’s math lesson was about reflections, translations, and rotations of different shapes. Emma knew all about it already but she tried her best to pay close attention and not to think about the empty chair near the door.
When it was time for recess, Emma stopped by the teacher’s desk to ask about Jake. If there was a reason for his absence then his mother might have called the school.
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