Chapter Four—Rite of Passage
By now, my emotions and those of the
Listians were running far past thin.
“What do you mean?’ Was my forced-calm
reply.
“Simply that. As you know, my
Labyrinth is not an easy thing to conquer. Neither is your quest.”
“Hasn’t waiting for hours in the hot
sun been enough torture?” inquired Michaellah, though she looked at me when she
said it.
“Torture?” Jareth feigned ignorance.
“And here I thought you’d enjoy your task.”
“Depends,” LittleWren said, “on what
we have to do.”
In an instant, the land around us
transformed. There were now trees and mountains all around.
“Where are we?” Cheralyn breathed.
“Part of the Canadian boarder. You
have a List member to find.” Jareth shuddered; how I knew is still a mystery to
me. “There are far too many of you Tights-Happy Freaks.”
“No name-calling!” shouted Lady Sarai.
“Besides, it’s not our fault you’re so
sexy!” Cybil yelled.
“Flattery will get you nowhere, lass.”
The King advised. Unfortunately, as well as I knew him, I could tell he was
smiling smugly.
“Are we ready, guys?” Sesana, near the
front of our group, took charge and began to walk through the trees.
“And where are you going?” Jareth
asked.
A streak of blue light pierced the air
and a blaze of blue fire encircled us. A few of the girls, including myself,
cried out at the suddenness of it. The King laughed. “Now, then, as I was
saying, this will not be easy. You’ll have a test to pass before you are
allowed to enter each Listian-inhabited country. Should you fail to correctly
pass said test…”
“What?” Queried FireDstany. “What
happens then?”
“That’s for me to know,” the King’s
voice echoed one last time, “and you to find out.”
“He’s so infuriating!” Labyrinthian
clenched her hands into fists.
“Guys, look!” Jess pointed ahead of
us. We all turned and drew in sharp breaths.
Before us, words were forming.
“Is this our first test?” inquired
LittleWren. Some shrugged; the rest didn’t answer. We were all mesmerized by
the words:
I am
made with an egg
I have
plenty of backbone
But lack
a good leg
I peel
layers like onions
But
still remain whole
I can be
long like a flagpole
Yet fit
in a hole
What am
I?
“A riddle is our first test?” squealed
Tawnya, her blue eyes sparkling.
“I—I guess.” I stammered. “Any ideas?”
“‘Sizzle like bacon, made with an
egg’.” Repeated Guinevere, frowning. “Makes me hungry. I didn’t have
breakfast.”
“What are some things without legs?”
Pondered Anakerie.
Discussion spread like wildfire.
Various parts of the riddle were questioned.
Northstar was biting her lip and
fiddling with her notebook again. “Hey, guys, I wrote the riddle down…what if
we don’t take it so literally…?”
We stopped talking and thought about
that.
“It remains whole after peeling,” said
Starlight. “A bird, maybe?”
“No.” Sesana shook her head. “Birds
have legs.”
“Long like a flagpole. It must be
small and thin.” Beth concluded.
“Maybe ‘sizzle’ means it makes a
noise…like a hissing sound.” I added.
“What’s small and thin?” Beth asked.
“Has no legs.”
“Shed’s it’s skin.”
“Hisses…”
Instantly, we all shouted, “A SNAKE!”
Happy to have solved the first test,
the Listians and I cheered, hugged, and jumped around.
One of us must have been paying
attention to the blue fire encircling us. And whoever it was let out a
blood-curdling scream.
What were once cerulean flames licking
the sky became hundreds of hissing, rattling, venomous snakes!
In every hiss, there was laughter.
Jareth’s laughter.
How were we supposed to pass this
test?