"You left me here to die in the river!" "I couldn't fight Circe's assassin--that dark thing! I came back for you."
"Tell yourself whatever you wish, Gemma. But in your heart, you know the truth. You left me here with that thing. And if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have known... "She stops.
"Wouldn't have known what?" Ann asks.
"You wouldn't have known they were looking for you! I was the one who warned you, in your dreams."
"But you said you didn't know about that," Felicity says, sounding hurt."You lied. You lied to me."
"Fee, please don't be cross," Pip says.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I ask.
Pippa folds her arms. "Why should I risk telling you everything when you won't promise me anything?"
Her logic is a web expertly spun, and I am caught in it.
"Very well. If I cannot be trusted," Pippa says, turning her back, "then you may find the Temple without me. But don't come
looking to me for help later."
"Pippa! Don't go!" Felicity calls after her. I've never seen Felicity beg anyone for anything. And for the first time, Pippa does not heed her call. She keeps walking till we can't see her anymore.
"Should we go after her?" Ann asks.
"No. If she wants to behave like a spoiled child, then let her. I shan't go after her," Felicity says, gripping her bow tightly. "Let's move on."
The amulet points the way, and we duck through the forest, past the thicket where the unfortunate ladies of the factory fire wait. We follow the path of the crescent eye on a long, winding trail until we reach the strange door that leads to the Caves of Sighs.
"How did we end up here again?" Felicity asks. I'm terribly confused. "I don't know. I've lost my bearings completely, I'm afraid."
Suddenly, Ann stops, a look of fear on her face.
"Gemma . . ."
I turn and see them, floating on the path.
Felicity goes for her arrows, but I stay her hand. "It's all right," I say. "These are the girls in white."
"The Temple is close," they whisper in those swarmlike voices."Follow us."
They travel quickly. It is all we can do to keep them in our sights. The green of the jungle-like path opens onto rolling hills that become sandy patches. By the time we've descended a third hill, I no longer see them. They've vanished.
"Where are they?" Felicity asks. She takes down her quiver to rub her shoulder.
"I don't see them," I say, trying to catch my breath.
Ann sits on a rock. "I'm tired. Feels like we've been walking for days."
"Perhaps we'll see something if we climb up one of these hills," Felicity advises. "They said it was close. Come on, Ann."
Grudgingly, Ann rises, and we make our way up the rocky hill to our right.
"Do you hear something?" I ask.
We listen and there it is: a soft crying sound.
"Birds?" Felicity asks.
"Gulls," Ann says."We must be near water."
We're close to the top of the hill. I offer Ann my hand, pulling her up.
"Criminy," Ann says, taking in the scene.
Before us, across an expanse of water, is a small isle. From it rises a majestic cathedral with a blue and gold painted dome. The seagulls we heard earlier circle it. "That's it. That's the one from my vision," I say.
"We've found it," Felicity shouts."We've found the Temple!"
In our mad haste to keep up, I have forgotten to look down at my amulet to check our course. When I do, I see that it has stopped glowing.
"We're off the path," I say, panicked.
"What does it matter?" Felicity says. "We have found the Temple at last."
"But it's not on the path." I say."Nell said to stick to the path."
Exhaustion has made Felicity irritable. "Gemma, she was speaking gibberish. You're following the advice of a confirmed lunatic!"
I turn in a circle, moving the amulet up and down in an attempt to get some sort of signal from it. There is nothing.
Ann places her hands over mine. "It is true, Gemma. We've no idea if what she's telling us can be trusted. At best, she's a lunatic. At worst, she could be working with Circe. We don't know."
"How do you even know that amulet is reliable? Honestly, where has it led us? To the Untouchables? To those girls in the thicket? It nearly got us killed by those horrible trackers the night of the opera!" Felicity insists.