Escape from the Past Read Free

were trying to make up his mind.“Nearby? Ha!” He spat into the oak leaves. “Nay, you look odd, your boots… Maybe you’re working for Hanstein after all. A spy. You’ll tell the Lord. They’ll seize me and I won’t ever be a squire.”
    “Squire?” I had trouble following Bero’s rambling. It sounded like German, but then it didn’t. More like a distant dialect. Even weirder, Bero seemed to understand me. That had to be the game.
    With a sigh Bero slumped on the ground. His pigs had settled nearby, grunting and digging with long gray snouts.
    “I’m no spy.” I squatted next to the guy who all of a sudden looked forlorn. “I’m sort of…lost.”
    Still Bero said nothing while he pulled sticks and leaves from under his grimy feet.
    “Would I stay with you if I were a spy? You know I was hiding just like you.” I paused, thinking of the man’s bloody hand. I shuddered and wondered if Bero had seen the whole thing. “Tell me about the squire stuff.”
    Bero shook his head. He glimpsed upward into the trees and sniffed. “It’s eventide.
Mutter
will be mad if I’m late for supper. I’ll get a whipping.” He jumped to his feet, light and quick as a squirrel, letting out a low whistle at the same time. New grunts and squeaks erupted as the pigs assembled around their master. He squinted again in obvious distrust. “See you ‘round… perchance.”
    To me it sounded like
leave me alone.
I stood up, too. It was growing dark for sure. The shadows of the undergrowth looked inky and I could hardly make out the sky. Maybe this was a good time to take a break and search for a snack. My mom always had ice cream stashed in the freezer.
    As Bero disappeared into the gloom, I turned 360 degrees. All I saw was dusk. All I heard was the song of some nauseatingly happy bird above me. I looked at my feet. I still stood in the woods and nowhere near on the carpet of my room. There was no pause button and no mouse.
    I shivered. I was somehow
in
the game and clueless what Iwas supposed to do. All games had goals like winning points and missions, shooting demons or collecting gold. But every game had a pause button and you could exit any time. What in the heck was I supposed to do standing in the middle of a forest? I remembered the sickening sight of the man’s bloody hand, the hole where his finger had been. Then there was the blood on my own hand. The foul smells. Never before, not even when my father had left, had I felt this alone…and scared. Games were supposed to be virtual
and
fun.
    I wondered how much time had passed since I’d punched the
expert
button. It had to be hours. What if I didn’t return by morning? My mother would freak out. I shook my head but nothing changed. Nothing except for new rustling that stirred to my right. It was much louder than the sounds of squirrels and birds. Who knew what dangerous animals Jimmy’s father had dreamed up? Maybe he’d stuffed the forest with wolves and bears.
    Renewed terror seized me. I stood absolutely still, forcing my brain into action. What if I were eaten by a bear? Was that even possible in a game?
    Maybe I’d missed some hint. Jimmy would laugh at me in the morning. Okay, I’d skipped level one and gone straight to expert, obviously a huge mistake. Great gamer I was.
    Struggling against the rising panic, I remembered Bero. Maybe if I could go with him until I’d find a clue and think things through. At least the guy knew his way around, even if he looked like he’d spent a year in the landfill. He didn’t sound exactly stupid, despite the fact he talked weird.
    Without another thought, I broke into a run in the general direction Bero had taken which turned into a sprint, something I hadn’t done since last year’s track season. The twilight turned everything gray, but I noticed the faint signs of broken sticks and upturned leaves the pigs had left.
    “Bero?” I yelled. I kept running, my lungs tight, thighsburning.
    In the vanishing light at