Chapter Eight-Bridges, Bread, and Boxes

 

"This just keeps getting more and more interesting," said Guinevere between gritted teeth.

"Jareth doesn't expect us to swim that, does he?" Daisy inquired.

"Not if he wants to live!" Shouted Mollie.

"Can you make a bridge?" Beth asked me.

"I'll try." Holding my necklace up, I closed my eyes and in my mind formed a safe, crossable bridge.

Which, unfortunately, became a swaying, rotted structure of wood the moment I opened them. I swore under my breath.

"Jareth." The Listians sighed in unison.

"Well, we may be able to cross it. We'll go by twos." I told them.

As luck would have it, the first two girls in our ground were Stephanie and Raven.

"Ladies first." Stephanie smiled and went ahead to the bridge. Raven did the same.

"What would I do without you, Bug Woman?"

Slowly, the two of them crept along the bridge and made their way across.

The rest of us breathed a sigh of relief, and the next two girls went. And the next, until all the Listians had made it to the other side.

"Alex..." I informed my friends. "She's the one in Italy."

 

*                      *                      *                      *                      *

 

"I'd kill for some garlic bread," Anony murmured, smelling the air around a food stand we passed.

"A nice glass of wine and some pasta..." Anakerie licked her lips.

"Does anyone have any money?" Tawnya queried.

"I have a total of eighty cents in my pocket." Lori announced.

"That won't even buy us parmesan cheese." Labyrinthian kicked a rock on the ground.

"We're almost there." I assured everyone. "About a block away, in fact."

Once there, again, I was pushed to the front of the group and made to knock. "Alex?"

Brown-haired, brown-eyed, and wearing glasses, she tilted her head and asked,

"Can I help you?"

"Yes." I nodded. "We're-"

"Skip the introductions!" Sesana lurched forward. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"Um, I just opened a package of peaches..."

"NO!" We yelled in unison.

"Oh, you guys must be the Labyrinth List." Alex grinned. "What's up?"

"By solving riddles, we've been traveling from country to country, gathering Listians because of a wish I made." The short version of our story spilled out.

"Cool! And you are?"

"Libby Sarah."

"Oh, yeah. You have some great signatures."

"Thanks." I smiled briefly. "Ready?"

"Sure!" Alex slammed the door behind her and joined us. "Bring on the riddle!"

All around us it grew dark. A movie screen lowered out of the sky and an image flickered.

"What the...?" FireDstany mumbled.

Finally the picture focused and a box was centered on the screen. A 1950's filmstrip voiceover said:

 

"You want to send a valuable object to a friend.

You have a box, which is more than large enough to contain the object.

You have several locks with keys.

The box has a locking ring, which is more than large enough to have a lock attached.

But your friend does not have the key to any lock you have.

How do you do it?

Note that you can not send a key in an unlocked box, since it might be copied."

 

 

The film ended, shut off, and then the screen went back up.

"I feel like I've been in school," I moaned.

Raven took a deep breath. "I wouldn't bother sending something like that through the Postal Service. Too expensive and troublesome."

"It'd be stupid to send a 'valuable object' in an unlocked box, anyway." Jess intoned.

"Does the friend have her own lock?" Asked Lady Sarai. I shrugged, as did a few other girls. The riddle didn't cover that. "Bare with me; I have a theory."

Slowly, we moved closer to hear this 'theory'.

"Say the friend has her own lock. You send the box with your lock, then she puts her own lock on, and sends it back. You can take your lock off and send it back to her, and she can take her lock off."

"Congratulations, Lady Sarai." The voiceover complimented. "You may proceed."

Our Listian began walking forward; we followed cautiously.

Suddenly, all around us appeared boxes with locks. We Listians were trapped in the center.

"After you choose the correct box."

 

 

 

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