The Trail of Coins

When Kamala got home from school she walked through the door of the orphanage and
ran upstairs. She put down her backpack in the dorm room and sat down. As she took off her
shoes, she noticed that her linen bed sheets had been cleaned and made. She looked over at her
brother’s clean bed as well and realized that his backpack wasn't there.
“That's odd,” she thought to herself. When she played soccer after school, he was almost
always home before she was. She decided not to read too far into it and she went downstairs into
the main room.
The main room was full of books, couches, and desks to do homework. Most kids in the
orphanage came here after school to relax. Today, there seemed to be fewer kids than usual.
Recently, Kamala noticed that many kids wouldn’t come home from school. It seemed as though
2 or 3 kids had gone missing this month. The disappearances had become more and more
common, but Kamala knew that no one would look into a few kids going missing here or there.
No, the cops had more things to deal with on their hands. They were looking into the energy
surges popping up all over town. Kamala thought that missing kids were more important than
energy surges, but that was just her. She spotted her directress across the room, working with some
of the younger kids on their homework. She walked across the room and sat down next to her
directress. When the directress looked up, she gave Kamala a frown. Her gray hair was tied neatly
back in a bun and she had a large mole on the left side of her cheek.
“Why are you bothering me child?” she said. “Can’t you see that I am in the middle of
something?
“I’m sorry! I just wanted to ask if you've seen Nathan.” Kamala said.
“Oh. I dont know. I see all of the children. Why?” Kamala's directress was not fully paying
attention to Kamala and was pointing to a kid's paper.
“Well he hasn’t come home and I am awfully worried about him. He always comes home
before me. I think that he may be in trouble” worried Kamala.
“ I am sure he’s fine. You worry too much. Now go do something productive instead of
worrying and bothering me.” Kamala’s directress turned away and began to help one of the
children on her right.
Kamala walked away and went out to the back gardens. The sun lowes were turned to the
sun that was disappearing below the horizon. She was sure that something was wrong but
understood why her directress wasn't worried. She had far more duties to attend to and to be fair,
Nathan was not that late. Perhaps he had gone out with friends, and he would be home later. Yet,
as she walked back up to her bed, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. When
dinner came around and Nathan had still not shown up, she had lost her appetite and decided to
go to sleep and wait until morning.
When Kamala woke up, she had forgotten about the day before and turned to say good
morning to her brother. When she found that he was still gone, she sat up and ran downstairs.
When she came down, she ran to one of the caretakers.“Goodness child! You should not be
out of your bed at this hour!” said the caretaker.
“Miss Abby! Nathan has been gone since yesterday! We have to go out and find
him!”Kamala exclaimed.
“Well if we are going to do anything, we are not going to go out and do it ourselves! We
shall wait until your directress awakes, and then we will call the police.”
Frustrated, Kamala said, “We can't wait we have to go out and find him!”
“I dont want to hear anymore. Go to your bed and we will try to solve the situation later.”
Miss Abby shooed her back up the stairs and back into the dorm room. Kamala turned around
and tried to protest “I-” She was cut off as the doors were slammed in her face.
She knew it was foolish, but Kamala wanted to find her brother right that instant. She
decided that the only way to find her brother was to go try to find him herself. She grabbed her
backpack from under her bed and stashed a green canteen, food, a sweater, and a knife. She didn't
fill the canteen, but she told herself that she would fill it as soon as she found a source of water.
Kamala opened the doors of the bedroom slowly to not awaken her fellow orphans. She
slowly crept down the hallway and came to the stairs. They were old wood floors, and she had to
be careful to not alert the caretakers. The stairs would creak with any pressure, so she clung to the
wall and crept down. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she ran to the door and slipped
outside.
The sun was just creeping over the horizon, and there was not a cloud in sight. As she
walked, she decided to go along the path that she and her brother took home every day. She turned
onto the pathway. As she walked along, she saw no signs of trouble. The green grass was as tall and
fresh as ever, and the birds in the trees stared down at her with beady eyes as if mocking her for her
failure to find a clue.
As she walked along, she noticed something shiny out of the corner of her eye. When
she picked up the strange thing, she noticed it was a Lincoln steel cent. It was an old coin,
featuring President Lincoln, and on the other side, it said “One cent.” Kamala had only seen one
like this before. Her brother gathered all kinds of coins. From all over the world he had gathered
coins. She noticed that there was another coin a couple of feet away. This one was a 1921 Peace
Dollar. She spotted another as she went along, and again it was a collectible coin. As she followed
the trail she picked up the coins. Finally, the trail of coins led to a clearing. In the center of the
clearing, there was a large doorway. This doorway was unlike any other doorway, though. When
she went to the other side of it, she found nothing. The doorway had an oak frame, and instead of
more wood to make up the door, it was a sort of translucent purple. It emitted wrongness like it
wasn't supposed to be there. She would have run away, if not for the coin right next to the
doorway. Kamala couldn't help but feel like the coins were leading her to her brother. She picked
up the coin by the doorway and hoped that her brother had left these coins so that she could find
him. She stepped toward the questionable thing and slowly put her hand in. Her hand disappeared
into the purple haze and on the other side, she felt searing heat. With a deep breath and a glance
back, she stepped into the doorway with her eyes shut closed.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a barren desert. The ground was tan and
dry, and the dunes piled up in every direction. She realized that what she had just walked through
was a portal of some kind. As she advanced further into the desert, she spotted the trail of coins
and followed it. As she walked, she concluded that whatever had taken her brother had used these
portals. She wondered what kind of creature could make the portals. As she walked, she came to a
tiny stream in the ground. Although it was a dark murky brown, Kamala decided to get her
canteen and scoop up some water in case she didn't come across any other water. She climbed up a
dune that had a coin on it. when she looked down the dune, she saw a creature sitting at the
bottom.
Kamala gasped and crouched low to the ground. She poked her head up and looked at the
creature. It had its back turned away from her and appeared to be eating something. It seemed to
be changing. It would flicker from a human form to something she could only describe as
terrifying. Kamala accidentally knocked down a pile of sand and the creature turned its head
toward her and permanently changed to its human-like form. It had blood dripping from its
mouth and large pointy teeth. The creature's whole body was made from sand. It lunged at her
and tackled her down to the ground, it tried to pull her into the dunes and Kamala struggled to
break free from the creature's grasp. She could feel herself being submerged into the sand and in a
matter of seconds her head would be pulled down too and she would suffocate. She felt a feeling of
frightfulness so great, that until her neck was about to be submerged, she was frozen in fright.
Suddenly, she realized the fatality of her situation and knew that she could not give up when her
brother was in danger somewhere. She remembered the water she had gotten earlier and pushed
her hand under the sand and moved her hand around trying to find her backpack. after struggling
for a few moments, she finally found it and pulled out the canteen from the side pocket. She
opened it and splashed it into the creature's face. It didn't do much, but momentarily blurred its
face and made it blind. It loosened its grasp on her and Kamala managed to break free of the
creature.
Kamala ran as fast as she could, following the trail of coins. When she looked behind her,
she saw the creature shapeshift into a large spider, running toward her. She quickly ran, ducked
behind a dune and held her breath. She heard the creature stop and sniff around the dune she was
behind. In a matter of seconds, she would be spotted and this time she didn't have any water. Out
of the corner of her eye, she saw the creature peek around the dune and just as it did, Kamala heard
a bird land behind her and the creature ran away. Kamala let go of a breath that she didn't know
she was holding and sat down.
“What even was that…” She thought. She decided that she needed to be way more careful.
She got back up and looked back to make sure the creature wasn't following her. In the meantime,
it was busy eating a golden eagle. The strange creature had changed into the form of an African
wildcat. The bird's limbs had been detached and the creature spat out a large bone. Kamala looked
back at the trail of coins and when she squinted, she saw another large purple portal in the
distance.
“I need to go that way,” she thought to herself, and with one more glance back at the
strange creature, she continued on her journey.
The heat of the desert was more than she could bear and by the time she made it to the
second portal, she could feel her shirt sticking to her body and she felt extremely dehydrated. She
walked through the second portal and felt a wave of humidity brush over her body. When she
looked up, she saw a tangle of large trees. There was color everywhere she looked, strange flowers
that were as tall as her, toucans, and all kinds of colorful birds and butterflies flashed by her. It was
beautiful. As she looked around in amazement, she could hear the faint sounds of a source of
water. It appeared that the coin trail led in the direction of the source of water. She tried her best
to find the trail of coins, but the tangle of greenery made them hard to spot. At times, she would
lose the direction of the path and feel a strike of panic.
“What if I can’t find the next portal?”
“What if I get lost and my brother dies to the fate of a different monster?” were all the thoughts
that struck her head when she lost the trail. But every time this happened, Kamala found the path
again and went on her way.
As Kamala walked, she found a large conch shell. It was pink and tan with spots of black.
 “That's odd,” She thought to herself. They were in the middle of what Kamala thought to
be a rainforest. Why would there be a shell out here? As Kamala walked, she played with the conch
shell and blew into it to make music and pass the time. Eventually, Kamala came to a large creek.
“Finally!,” Kamala exclaimed. She had finally found some water to drink and fill her
canteen. She was beginning to worry that she would never find water. She filled her canteen and
drank generously. After three refills, Kamala felt nourished enough. She was still hungry though.
She walked around the creek and found some bananas. She picked one off the plant. It was curved
and looked extra ripe and delicious. She peeled it from the top and took a bite. It was unlike any
banana she had ever had before. On the rare occurrence that she did have a banana, it was unripe
and not as delicious as this one. It was sweet and creamy with a hint of tropical notes. She happily
picked another banana off the tree and went to sit down. As she snacked and rested, she played the
conch shell. She was facing away from the creek and all of a sudden she heard a loud splash.
She jumped to her feet and turned to look at the creek. Looking at the water she saw a
humongous serpent. It had bright yellow eyes and green slimy scales. Its teeth were as big as her
hand and it seemed to be staring straight into her soul. It hissed at her and slowly began slithering
out of the water. Kamala ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction but it was no use. The
huge serpent slithered toward her with undeniable speed. No matter how fast she ran, the serpent
was always right behind her. She struggled to run through the rainforest. The trees pushed out in
every direction and spiderwebs with huge black tarantulas blocked her way. The serpent was
gaining on her and she had no means of escape. As she ran, she looked around for any signs of a
cave or somewhere to hide. Finally, she saw a huge log. Kamala dropped to the ground and the
army crawled through the log. On the inside of the log, she found large, red ants scurrying around.
As she crawled to the middle of the log, she felt one of the large ants bite her. The pain was like
nothing she had ever felt before. It shot through her body like a lightning strike. She could feel her
body losing consciousness and just before her eyes shut, she saw the snake stick its head inside of
the log and get stuck.
When Kamala awoke, she smelled the faint scent of herbal tea. She slowly opened her eyes
and looked around. She found herself in a small dainty cabin. She couldn't see any signs of people,
but she assumed that she was in the living room of this home. The events of the day came rushing
back, and she wondered how she was here. She got up from the small bed she was lying on and
walked into the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen, she found a small old woman grinding up herbs. She had dark green
eyes and her hair was gray. She had a small dress on that looked as though it was made of some sort
of animal. The old woman looked up and gave Kamala a huge smile.
 “Come in darling! How are you feeling?” The old woman exclaimed.
“Um… I feel okay” Kamala said.
“Well don’t be shy. Take a seat! My name is Clevena.” The old woman gestured to a
wooden chair and brought Kamala a cup of steaming tea. Kamala took it suspiciously and took a
sip. It tasted of flowers and the tropics. Kamala relaxed and looked back up at the woman.
“How-I mean how am I not dead?”
“Oh! well, I was gathering fruit and herbs in the rainforest to make my daily tea and I
noticed the wreckage of the greenery coming up to the log that you were in. I peeked in and I saw
you asleep! I retrieved you and brought you back here!”
Kamala had finished her tea and was about to ask for some more when Clevena snatched
the glass off the counter.
“Now, if you want another cup of tea, you are going to have to explain to me how you
ended up in that log in the first place.”
Kamala explained first coming home to the orphanage and not being able to find her
brother. She explained the coin path and the portals, the sand creature she came across, and the
serpent that had attacked her.
“Goodness! That is a lot for one child to go through!” Clevena said as Kamala came to the
end of her story. “You must have been so scared!”
As Kamala finished the last sip of the second cup of tea that old woman had given her
while she was telling her story, she felt a pit drop in her stomach.
“I lost the trail of coins! How am I ever going to find my brother now?” Kamala felt dread
spreading over her.
Clevena looked at Kamala with thought. “Maybe-just maybe-”
“What! What is it!” Kamala exclaimed.
“Well, one time while I was gathering food out in the rainforest, I came across an old well.
I've heard of the old rumors that if you drop a coin into a well, it will grant a wish. I happened to
have a coin on me and dropped it in. I wished for something simple- a supply of wood to heat my
home. When I came home, I found three bundles of wood sitting on the steps of my cabin. Now
this was a couple of years ago- but I bet that well is still there. You could try it!”
Kamala felt a feeling of hope rush over her. “Do you think you could take me there?”
“Of course! Now it was a long time ago so it may take a while but I would be happy to show you
where it is.”
Clevena packed some more food into Kamala's backpack and some water. They set off at
around noon and pushed through the greenery. It felt like forever, but they eventually made it to
the well. It had a large bucket that you could move to splash down and retrieve water and had a
roof over the top of it. The roof was growing an assortment of moss and flowers and the well
looked like it hadn't been touched in years.
Kamala turned toward Clevena and gave her a large hug. “Thank you so much!”
“Of course!” Clevena hugged her back. “I wish you well on your journey.” Clevena walked
away and Kamala reached into her backpack and pulled out the small pouch of her brother's coins
she had collected on her way. She pulled out one of the coins and dropped the coin into the well.
After a few seconds, she heard a “Plop!” Kamala looked around hoping to find a sign that it
had worked. When nothing happened after a few seconds, Kamala felt defeated. Just as she was
about to walk away, she heard a noise behind her. When she turned around, she found a monkey
in the trees. It seemed to be calling to her to follow it. It would wave its arms around and motion
for her to come with it. She knew it was crazy, but she followed the monkey. It swooped from vine
to vine and Kamala had trouble keeping up with it. She followed the monkey until they reached a
giant cocoa bean tree. The monkey stopped on the tree and motioned down to the ground. When
Kamala looked down, she found the trail of her brother's coins.
“Thank you so much!” she called after the monkey as it bounded away. She felt relieved
that she had finally found the trail once more. She followed the trail, picking up the coins as she
went, and finally reached another portal. Kamala hoped that this would be the last one. She had
faced so many challenges already and she was beginning to feel like she would never find her
brother. She walked through the portal.
When she walked through the portal, she found herself standing on a large snowy
mountain. She knew where she was. She was in the Himalayas. The mountain she was standing on
looked to flatter ground at the bottom. She saw a small town and a couple of lone huts. She looked
up the mountain and saw a large castle. It looked abandoned and made shivers run down Kamala’s
spine when she looked at it. She hoped that the coins would lead down to the town, but had a
feeling that wherever her brother was, he was probably in the creepy castle and not in the quaint
town. She did not see the trail of coins and she assumed that the coins had been covered by the
snow. She would have to make a decision, go to the castle or the town.
There was a chance that her brother wasn't in either of the two options. But she would
have to take a chance. The castle seemed closer, and she had made the assumption that whatever
took her brother was probably up there. Now, the problem would be staying warm as she made
the trek up to the castle. Kamala grabbed her backpack. Luckily, she had packed a light sweater. It
was certainly not enough to keep her warm in these low temperatures but it would have to do. She
would just have to take chances that she would find her brother in the castle. She marched
upward. The mountain was very steep, and Kamala often lost her footing on the slick ice. She was
so cold that she was beginning to lose feeling in her limbs. At one point, she slipped and almost fell
off the mountain into the rocky terrain below. The castle was at the top of the mountain, so she
kept climbing. When she reached the top, she poked her head above the large cliff that separated
her from the castle. When she looked, she found a humongous monster blocking the path.
It was a large ape-like creature, with a white coat and a brown face. Its eyes were pure white
and it was placed directly in front of the castle no doubt guarding her brother from escape.
Kamala climbed up the cliff that separated the castle level from the one she was on. She
immediately ran from the top of the cliff spot where she could be spotted, to a large rock. She saw
a couple of rocks ahead and if she was lucky enough, she could run from rock to rock without
being spotted. This would allow her to book it to the door and hopefully get inside of the castle.
The castle had large wooden doors that pushed open with a button. She took a deep breath and
ran to the next rock. The creature- which Kamala assumed to be a Yeti, seemed to be distracted
with picking some sort of meat off of its teeth and didn't hear Kamala. Just as she was about to run
to the next rock, she accidentally some pebbles and it made a very loud scraping noise. The Yeti
immediately swiveled its neck toward Kamla and slowly walked toward her. In a matter of
moments, she would be found out and killed. Kamala would have to think of something fast.
Looking around for anything that would help her, she grabbed a large rock and threw it across in
the other direction. It landed behind the Yeti and the Yeti turned to investigate. It walked toward
the other side of the area and began sniffing around the rocks. This was her chance. She booked it
toward the door, ran to the button pushed it, and the doors opened. Kamala slipped inside.
The doors closed behind Kamala and she found herself in a slim hallway. At the end of the
hallway, there was a set of stairs that spiraled up into an unknown room. The carpeting in the
hallway was a dark red. On the walls were several old paintings that had worn away with time.
Kamala crept through the hallway and eventually made it to the stairs. Her heart was pounding in
her chest and she crept up the stairs. When she made it to the top of the stairs, there was another
hallway that led to a couple of rooms. She could hear two voices coming from the room on
kamala’s left.
“No, Fiddle! We must wait for the girl. Then my army will be complete!” came a harsh
raspy voice.
“But Batibat, if we wait much longer we will be found out! And then there will not be
much use for your army will there? Those portals will be found eventually. We can only hold off
for so long.” came a scrawnier voice.
 Kamala put her head to the door. Who were they talking about? The voices suddenly
stopped and the harsher voice said “She’s here, Fiddle. I can sense her”
Kamala jumped back. “Are they talking about me?” she thought. Before Kamala could do
anything, the doors swung open. She found a small skinny man looking down at her. His red hair
and freckles did not match the sinister idea that he could have taken her brother. But don't judge a
book by its cover I guess. Kamala looked at him with fright.
An old wrinkly hand pushed the boy to the side and an old woman with pure black eyes
and a large nose took her wrist. “Come in child. We have been waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me?” Kamala said.
“Oh yes, child. You are the last piece of the puzzle. The final thing I need to wreak havoc
on the world.” the witch said.
Kamala looked back at her with confusion in her eyes.
“Oh, you don’t think that your brother left that trail for you do you?” The old witch said with
pity. “No, I left the trail. Do you think I would truly be foolish to leave those portals just lying
around? I left them on purpose. To bring you here.”
The witch pulled Kamala into the room and sat her down on a large red chair. Kamala
looked around for her brother but didn't find any sign of him anywhere. “Did you take my
brother?”
Oh yes. You guys were the last 2 children I needed for my army. You see, as you may have
noticed, a large amount of children from your orphanage have been going missing. I know that no
one cares about little orphans going missing. So, I take them from the orphanage, take them
through a portal to different places and finally bring them here. That way, no one can trace the
missing children back to me. That is if anyone truly cared about the missing children anyway.
“So you have been taking children to make some sort of army. But why go through so
much trouble to get me?” Kamala questioned the witch.
“It’s more fun this way! I've seen your whole adventure on my crystal ball and it was just so
easy! I took your brother so you would come. And I had so much fun watching you face all of
those creatures! I elft that conch shell for you to find too!” The witch exclaimed.
“So you left the coin trail as well?” Kamala asked. She felt so incredibly stupid for falling for the
stupid witch’s trap.
“Mhmm. Smart, I know!” the witch said.
The redheaded boy walked up next to the witch and said “Well, I think it was very stupid.
All of that time was wasted if the girl had died. And such a risk too. The coin trails, the open
portals. I can't believe you were so ignorant!”
 “You musn’t get so worked up! It was only a little bit of fun, Fiddle. And besides, now we
have every child needed to make my army.” The witch said to the red-haired boy.
“But why are you doing this? We didn't do anything to you!” Kamala exclaimed.
“My goal is to take over the world. When it has been taken over, I will hand it over to my
master! This is enough talking. I have to make talismans for you and your brother. Fiddle, take this
brown-haired one and take her down to the dungeons!”
Before Fiddle could take a step toward Kamala, Kamala shot up and ran out of the door.
“No!!! Fiddle you must get her! She can't get away!” The witch screamed.
Kamala ran as fast as she could and slammed the door in Fiddles face. she ran back down the stairs,
across the hallway, and back outside. She ran as fast as she could around the yeti before it could
even spot her or do anything about her. She ran down the mountain, with so much determination,
that the tire in her muscles never managed to get the best of her. She kept turning backward but
never saw a person in pursuit. As she watched the trees flash by, she wondered how she was ever
going to save her brother.
When she reached the small town, She saw the smoke coming from the chimneys and a
small market. The people gathered in the market were all wearing big winter coats and were
shopping around for produce.
There was an old man who smiled at Kamala and said “You look like the type who would
love this dress” He pushed a large gown at her and tried to put it into her hand. He smiled at her
with his yellow teeth.
“I have no money, I’m sorry,” Kamala said as she quickly walked away. Kamala found a
small police station after scouring the streets of the town. The town was only about 10 blocks, and
it was quite easy to find the station. She walked through the thick glass doors and found herself in
front of a desk. There was a woman delivering mail to the cubbies on the left side of the station
and a woman was sitting at the desk.
Kamala walked up to her. “Hi, I'm so sorry to bother you but my brother went missing
this morning and I walked through a whole bunch of portals and I went up to that castle up there
and there was a witch and she has my brother and we have to go save him!”
The woman at the front desk looked up with a startled look. “What are you talking about?
You need to slow down!” She said. The woman who was delivering something seemed to be
inching closer and listening to their conversation.
Kamala took a deep breath. “My brother was taken by a witch. She is holding him and a
whole bunch of other kids in the castle up there!” She pointed out the window at the castle on the
top of the mountain.
 The woman looked at her with a stern look. “You should know not to come telling fake
stories to the cops. We have things to do. Now get out before I make you.” The woman looked
down at her work and began working again.
“I'm not lying! We have to go do something!” Kamala exclaimed.
“I said get out!” The woman didn’t look up from her work. Kamala didn't want to irritate
the woman any longer so she just left. She found a bench and sat down with a sigh. She was so
frustrated and didn't know what to do. She watched the passerbyers walking by with their bags
and thought and thought. Deep in thought, Kamala didn't notice the woman who was delivering
mail come outside.
The woman walked up to Kamala. “Excuse me miss,” she waved at Kamala to bring her
out of her trance and Kamala looked up. The woman had brown hair and a tan hat. She seemed to
be in her twenties and she looked very nice.“Sorry to bother you miss, but I heard your
conversation with the woman in there and I believe you.”
Kamala looked at her with suspicion. “Why?”
“Well it's a long story but… I was hiking the mountains a couple of weeks back and I came across
that old castle. I decided to go explore it and went inside. I went inside a room and I found an old
witch enchanting these pouches. When I went into the room, she had disappeared but she never
left the room. I searched every section of that room but didn't find her.While I was looking, I
turned around and she was there. She started yelling at me and I ran away.I haven't gone back
since. I didn't know she was enchanting children though.”
“Oh-Im so glad someone believes me!”Kamala exclaimed.
“I know you need help. That's why I came out here. I have been so bored lately and it ios
due time for an adventure. Do you think I could come with you to get your brother?” The woman
asked pleadigly.
“Yes! Let's go!” Kamala started walking away.
The woman grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Slow down! You don’t even know my
name!”
Kamala was frustrated. Every minute was a minute wasted that she could have used to find
her brother. “Okay, what is your name?
“My name is Lila.” The woman said.
“Okay great let's go.” Kamala began walking again. Lila pulled her back again.
“What is it now? We don’t have time for this!” Kamala yelled at Lila with increasing
annoyance.
“Do you have a plan?” Lila questioned.
“Well no but-”
“Then listen to me. We are going to go buy some supplies. Then we will come up with a
plan. Then and only then will we go back up that mountain.”
“Fine.” Kamala said with a glare.
Lila led Kamala to a shop called Supplies and Ammo. They walked inside. Inside, there
were rows of guns, knives, chains, ammo, and food.
“Now, if we're going to defeat this witch, we are going to need supplies,” Lila said. She
walked into the third aisle and grabbed a knife. She then went up to the counter to buy food and
some shoes. She also grabbed two jackets.
“What are the shoes for?” Kamala asked.
“Have you seen those shoes?” she pointed down to kamalas shoes. Kamala looked down
and found that the bottom of her shoe was so worn, that there was a large hole. Maybe she would
need a new pair of shoes.
Lila paid for the supplies and they walked back outside with their supplies and sat down on
a bench. Kamala began to think of how she and Lila were going to defeat the witch.
“Can you tell me anything about the defenses of the castle?” Lila asked. Anything that may
have changed since I was there?
“Well, there was a yeti in the front of the castle. Was that there when you were there?”
Kamala asked.
“No. I guess the witch upped her security after I wandered inside the castle.” Lila
concluded. “How are we going to get around it?”
“Well, last time I sneaked inside. But that probably won't work for 2 people. You said that
the witch was making pouches?” Kamala asked.
“Yes she seemed to be enchanting them, why?” Lila asked.
“Well when I was sneaking inside the castle, I saw a pouch around the Yeti's neck.” Kamala
said.
“hmm. maybe they are related! Do you think maybe the pouches are what allows the witch
to control them?” Lila asked.
“We will have to find out! Once we get past the yeti, we can sneak into the house and try to
find where she is holding the kids captive!” Kamala said with excitement at the idea that she had a
partner and was getting closer to saving her brother.
“When I was in the room , the witch disappeared and then showed up again. But she never
entered or left the room. So she must have a secret entrance somewhere inside of the room. Maybe
that is where the dungeons are!” Lila said.
 “Then we have to go find out!” Kamala said.
Kamala and her new friend left the village and began trekking upwards to the castle. This
time Kamla was much more prepared. She had new shoes and a jacket to keep her warm. When
they finally made it to the top, they found the Yeti once again guarding the castle. Kamala’s
memory was correct. Sitting around the yetis chest was a large pouch connected to his neck.
“If that pouch is what allows the witch to control him, then we will have to get it off!”
Kamala told Lila. Kamala went up the the Yeti and began waving her arms. As she was distracting
the yeti, Lila crept around the yeti and slowly climbed up his back. Once in a while, the yeti would
turn to see what was on its back, but Kamala would yell at it and it would turn its attention back
to her. When Lila finally made it to the Yeti’s neck, she took the knife from her pocket and swiftly
cut the pouch off. She jumped back to the ground and ran back to Kamala.
The yeti stopped for a moment and put its hands to its head. Its pure white eyes faded to a
normal color of a bright icy blue. After a moment it opened its eyes and looked at them.
“What happened?” The yeti said. Its voice was deep and sounded like it hadn't been used
for a long time.
“You can talk?!” Lila looked at the Yeti with surprise.
“Well-yes…every yeti can talk.”
“You were enchanted by the witch. With this.” Kamala showed the yeti the pouch that was
in her hand.
Kamala opened up the pouch and found a small circular talisman marked with scriptures
in a language she did not understand.
“I can't believe she would do that to me. I trusted her.” The yeti said.
“What do you mean?” Lila questioned.
“When I was a young Yeti, the witch wandered into my village. That is- she wasn't a witch then.
She was kind to us and said that she would never tell anyone about us. She brought us human food
and taught us stories of the heroes in your world. I grew up with her. She told us she didn't have a
life with your kind. That she was an orphan. But apparently, humans age significantly faster than
Yetis. I was 93 and she was 94. She told us that she was going to die. She disappeared that night.
We then learned later that she had made a deal with the devil. That if she wanted to live longer, she
would have to sell her soul and reign evil in the world. She came in and murdered all of my kind
except for me. She enchanted me and took me to guard her castle. Sometimes, she would let me
out of the trance to go get food. But then this one came while I was gone and now I have to guard
the castle 24-7.” The yeti pointed at Lila.
“I'm so sorry that she did that to you,” Lila said. “And you trusted her.”
 “Hold on. Why didn't you just escape when she let you go hunting?” Kamala asked.
The yeti lifted his arm and there was a small light blinking inside of it. “A tracker,” Kamala said.
The yeti nodded his head. “Why are you guys here?” The yeti asked.
“The witch took my brother. For her army.” Kamala said.
“And I'm just here for the adventure.”Lila said with a smile.
“We have to go inside and free my brother and all of the other people the witch is holding
captive.” Kamala said.
“Good luck,” The yeti yelled as they walked away. The two girls walked inside and walked up the
stairs. They went up to the hallway and peeked into the room that Kamala had been in before. The
witch was sitting in there talking to fiddle.
“What are we going to do?” said Fiddle. “We need one more.”
“I'm sure she will be back to get her brother. We just have to wait.” The witch replied.
“That is the room where she was making the pouches.” Lila pointed to a room at the far
end of the hallway. They quickly; ran to the room and slipped inside. The room smelled like old
books and bookshelves lined three of the walls. On the fourth wall, there was a desk with empty
pouches and some paper.
“We should look around everywhere to try to find a secret entrance,” Lila said. Kamala
started to examine the bookshelves. She examined the first bookcase and noticed one of the books
looked too far pushed out. She grabbed the book and pulled it down. It came down with a thunk
and the shelf pushed aside.
“Lila!” Kamala whispered. Lila came over and looked at the large hole in the wall. Inside of
the hole, some stairs spiraled down into an unknown. Kamala looked at Lila and they both
nodded. They slowly walked down the staircase. When they got to the bottom, Kamala could see
nothing but darkness. It creeped her out. Suddenly, hundreds of pure white eyes loomed in the
darkness and started running at Lila and Kamala.
Illuminated, Kamala could see the silhouettes of bodies running toward her. One of the
bodies reached her and tried to grab onto her hair and pull her down. Kamala felt around, trying
to escape. Kamala’s hand brushed something around the neck of the body and tugged on it.
Suddenly, the eyes went back to normal, and the person, who was close enough could see that it
was one of her fellow orphans. These were the missing children!
“Lila!” Kamala yelled at her. They are enchanted by the same necklaces as the Yeti! Just pull
them off!” Kamala and Lila struggled for what seemed like forever, but eventually unenchanted all
of the bodies in the basement. Kamala found the light switch and turned it on. When the light
turned on, she saw hundreds of children. Many were her fellow orphans but most were ones she
had never seen before.
“Thank you so much for saving us!” One of the orphans yelled.
One of the children that was still dizzy and trying to figure out what was going on was Kamala’s a
brother. Kamala ran to him “Nathan!”
“Kamala! What is going on?” Nathan hugged Kamala. Kamala was so happy to see him.
“You were taken by a witch. She enchanted all of you to fight for her army.” Kamala explained.
Kamala walked back up the stairs with all of the prisoners behind her.
“It's not working anymore fiddle! I can't control them!” Kamala heard the witch scream. She
walked into the room that the witch was in. “You” the witch snarled. “It took me months to
gather my army!”
Kamala, Lila, and the rest of her friends charged at the witch. They held her down. The
witch had a necklace of her own. Kamala reached down to take it but the witch yelled at her. “No,
don’t take it off!” The witch struggled and kicked to get Kamala off of her but eventually, Kamala
got the necklace and pulled it off. The witch yelled at Kamala. Kamala smashed the necklace to
pieces and the witch transformed. She began to age. Her face shriveled up even more and after a
couple of gruesome minutes, the old woman had disintegrated, for her necklace she had sold her
soul for stopped her from aging.
Everyone stared in silence at the pile of what used to be the witch. The witch's servant,
Fiddle, glanced at the group and ran out the door.“Hey! Wait” Lila yelled back but, Fiddle had
disappeared. Everyone was silent. They all walked down the steps and out of the house.
Kamala took them down to the village and the police station. The same woman who had
shooed Kamala away was there. Kamala walked in with the mob and they explained everything
that had happened. The police officers assumed that they had all come up with the silly story out
of trauma and sent Kamala and all of the children back to their orphanages.
When the cops were about to return Kamala and her brother to their orphanage, Kamala
said goodbye to Lila.“Thank you so much for everything.” Kamala said.
“Of course! It was loads of fun!” Lila said.
Kamala walked to the helicopter that was set to take Kamala and her brother home. As
they passed above the castle, Kamala could see the Yeti waving up at her. She smiled. On her
journey, she made so many new friends and learned an important lesson: that despite challenges,
you can always overcome them and make the best of them if you work together.