The Edge of Strange Hollow

at Mack, and he raised one eyebrow. She supposed it was as good a time as any to tell him.
“Bringing the cerberus?” Nula interrogated, not waiting for an answer to her first question. She tipped her chin at Eta-Two-Brutus.
Poppy thought the girl might be afraid of Dog, what with her catlike qualities, but she seemed more … curious. “I would never leave Dog behind, so yeah, definitely bringing them.”
The pooka seemed to consider this as she bent to pat their heads. “I totally get it. Anyone would love their company.”
But Poppy kept her eyes locked on Mack as she answered the pooka’s first question. She had been waiting to tell him all day. “We’re … We’re going into the Grimwood to hunt down a malediction.”
Poppy wasn’t just going to beat her parents at their own game. She was going to break her blood ward, once and for all, no matter what it took.

CHAPTER FIVE
Mack’s mouth fell open. “We’re what now?”
Poppy stilled. “I’m going to beat them to it, Mack. We’re going to find the Soul Jar—the one Mom and Dad are looking for—before they do. Then they’ll see that they need me on their team.”
“That’s…”
“Brilliant,” Nula chimed in. “Soul Jar, huh? I bet the Fae know all about it.”
Poppy shrugged. Her plan was to head into the deeps to the Holly Oak—see if she would let them in. With luck, the tree would be impressed with her audacity. Impressed enough, at least, to point her in the right direction. She had always wanted to meet the Oak, and this was a perfect opportunity—maybe her only opportunity.
There was just the small matter of the ward her parents put on her to keep her out of the woods. She’d searched their lab, looking for anything that might point to a way to break it. The only thing she’d ever found was a hint that distance might snap it like a cord stretched too tight. The pain would be unbearable but … the ward should break. It had to. She shook off the thought of what might happen to her if it didn’t.
“So—what do you say?” Nula asked, her tail curling back and forth in graceful arcs. “Why don’t I show you the way to the faeries and you can ask them what they know about this Soul Jar thingie.”
“No!” Mack said. “No way are we going to the Fae.”
Nula flicked an ear. “I’m asking her. She’s the one in charge, isn’t she?”
Mack opened his mouth to retort, but Poppy gave Mack a tiny shake of her head, keeping her eyes on the pooka. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the thought, but they didn’t know Nula from a field mouse. What Poppy did know was that the pooka wasn’t in charge of her expedition. “We’ve already got a plan,” she said. “But thanks anyway.”
“Right,” Mack interjected. “There’s nothing the faeries have that we need.”
Nula’s gold eyes narrowed. “The Fae are the most amazing creatures in the forest. They know everything, and they love telling you all about it. And I’m practically one of them—so I should know,” she added as some emotion Poppy couldn’t decode flitted across her face.
“Sure—they know lots,” Mack said, raising a hand in surrender. “But I agree with Poppy. They’re dangerous.”
“I didn’t say that,” Poppy said.
Nula smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Everyone worth knowing is a little dangerous. Don’t you think?” She flicked her tail. “Besides, they’ll love the novelty of a human in the Grimwood. They love anything that’s rare—anything new or unexpected—and that’s the two of you together, for certain.”
Poppy put a hand on her hip. “Maybe later. We’re going to the Holly Oak.”
The tension left the meadow like water draining from a tub, and Nula stretched her arms up, arching her back. “Suit yourselves.” She moved to pet Dog’s heads again, their tail wagging. “How much does your cerberus eat anyway? I mean—do you feed all three of them, or … do they take turns eating?”
Mack cast a look at Nula and moved to Poppy’s side. “What about your parents’ ward?”
Poppy grimaced. “I’ll walk till it breaks.”
Mack’s mouth dropped open. “That is not a good—”
“A ward?” Nula interrupted.
Poppy turned to face the pooka. Her head had begun to ache just thinking about how bad this was going to hurt. “Blood ward,” she grumbled.
Nula’s eyes pinched. “On you?”
Poppy nodded.
Nula cringed. “Yeah, the elf is right. You could walk off the ward … and it might work. But it’s more likely to just kill you outright.”
Poppy felt her cheeks go pale.
The pooka smiled and leaned forward to confide in Poppy’s ear. “But you know … the faeries like me way better than most pooka-kind, so I’ve picked up a few things.”
“Like what?” Poppy asked. Mack was shaking his head and giving her hand signals that they should talk in private. But Poppy wanted to hear what the pooka had to say.
Nula’s smile was so bright it made Poppy blink. “Like … how to break a blood ward,” she said as Mack dropped his forehead into his palm and did a nose-sigh.
Poppy had to try it … but of course Mack was grumpy about it. It took two apples and an apology to cheer him up, and even then he kept kicking at the dirt with his toes as they walked the first hundred steps into the Grimwood, following a short distance behind the pooka.
Poppy stopped walking when they got close enough to see the thorn tree up ahead. Her head was pounding. Pins and needles raced over her body in waves. Dog shifted their weight to lean against her leg.
Nula studied the thorn tree. “Let’s move west. That thing makes me nervous and I don’t want to give it any ideas.” She chuckled, but it sounded hollow.
Mack caught Poppy’s arm. “Can we talk about this?”
“Not now, Mack. Maybe later.”
“I’m really not sure about this, Pop.”
“I know. But I am.”
They walked west until they were out of sight of the thorn tree. This time it was Nula that called a halt.