“I’m not sure, but we’re west of the cave, that’s for certain.” The faun girl said, returning to the cave exit to pull the vines and branches back together to conceal it. “Everyone, get up. We have to keep moving. If those men got into Bohga’s cave and discovered there’s a passage leading in this direction, they may send scouts to comb the area. If they’re foolish enough to attempt to follow us through that gas chamber then they may buy us some time while they explore it. We should put as much distance as we can and hope they lose our trail.” No one seemed to be in a hurry to get to their feet. “Let’s go,” she said, prodding Morell in the backpack with the blunt end of her spear. The chubby boy groaned a little but rolled to his stomach and pushed himself up. “Up, up, up.” She said, tapping the witches on the soles of their winklepickers.

  “Unnnggh. Taskmaster Hoxley demands our toil.” Siouxsie said a she sat up. “Yes, master, we live to obey. Hey, lazy bones, that means you too.” The witch poked her brother in the stomach which made him do the same. “As for you,” Siouxsie plucked the still glowing orange gel from the end of her broom and held it in cupped palms, nuzzling it with her cheek, “You did a great job!” The others watched as she then took a deep breath and blew across the tiny gel like a candle. This caused the blob to lose its luminescence and return to its original state. “Who’s the best gel in the world?”

  “Pumpkoo!” the gelatin peeped.

  “No, Pump-kin! Pump…kin!”

  “Purm-keee!” it said.

  “Ahh,” she said with disappointment. “Silly gel.” Siouxsie took off her hat with one hand and pitched Pumpkin a few feet straight up into the air with the other. It fell down and landed perfectly atop her head with an inaudible “pwip” before she planted her pointed hat atop it.

  “And you.” Hoxley rapped her spear against the prince’s ankle.

  “I’m not done resting yet.” He said without opening his eyes.

  “Not my concern.” She replied. “The faster we leave the safer we will be. Up.”

  “I said I’m not done.” Hoxley frowned as her patience quickly began to reach its end.

  “And I said ‘up’.” She said giving his shield a small whack. This caused him to open his eyes and glare at her for a moment.

  “You may give me a look of disapproval all you like, but those men who want you either dead or captured will not remain here long before they continue their search. It would not bode well for you to remain after the rest of us have departed.”

  “Departed?” The prince sat up. “You can’t leave me here!”

  “Quite the contrary,” Robert spoke up to break his usual silence. “I think you meant to say we shouldn’t leave you here. We most certainly can leave you here. It would actually be very easy to leave you here.”

  “Stop it.” Siouxsie said as she elbowed him. “That’s not nice.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be nice.” he said, looking away with arms crossed.

  “You’re not helping.”

  “I wasn’t trying to help. I was voicing my displeasure with the prince’s stubbornness.”

  “I’m not being stubborn!” Prince Damron said to him. “I’m tired!”

  “We’re all tired and we all just suffered the same ordeal, your highness.” said Robert. “It means we’ll all sleep better tonight. Hoxley?” he said looking to his sister. “Let’s go. We should leave now to stay ahead of trouble. Either he’ll follow or he won’t.” Having said this, Robert shrugged to resituate his black cloak and began walking away. Everyone exchanged glances before Siouxsie copied her brother’s shrug and jumped upon her broom to levitate.

  “He’s right, C’mon.” She said before floating away. Morell pursed his lips with awkwardness before hesitantly following the witches. Hoxley and the prince locked eyes in a silent battle of wills. Eager to get moving she gave in a little before extending the bottom of her spear for him to grab.

  “I’m tired too.” She told him. “But we’ll be a little less tired if we’re tired together.” The prince realized he didn’t have any other choice.

  “Fine.” He finally conceded and grabbed the spear. “We’ll keep moving.” A strong pull lifted prince Damron to his feet. “What’s our next destination?” he asked her.

  “We’re approaching a cross roads.” Said Hoxley. We’ll discuss things before we bed down for the night.” The five crossed the wooded area single file, moving quickly but quietly. Hoxley veered their path slightly south to follow the trail she normally took when travelling this way. Hours more they walked. A warm breeze slipped past all day long to help in drying their clothes. Just before the sun started to set, Hoxley led them upstream from a small bridge they’d just crossed. “This way. I know a place where we can bed down for the night that should be safe. We can get baths as well. I’d say we all need one. As we are now, a hunting dog with no nose could track us.”

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  “A bath would be great.” Morell confessed. “And thanks to Siouxsie and Robert, we have soap to get us extra clean!” Hoxley led them up stream a little further before they came across another stream that fed into the larger one they’d been walking along. They followed that one upstream a little further before a secluded clearing came into view. High rock walls surrounded a place where the water had carved its way down the hills and created a ten-foot waterfall that flowed into a serene clear pool deep enough to bathe. To the right side, wide flat rocks presented an ideal area to disrobe and dry off.

  “There.” said Hoxley. “Just as I remember it. The sun will be down before too long, so we’d best hurry.”

  “Are we all bathing together?” The prince said nervously.

  “No, of course not.” Said Hoxley. “One of us has to stand guard while the others are in the water. That’s just smart camping. Robert? Would you mind standing guard while we bathe?”

  “I suppose not.” He shrugged before taking a crouched seat atop the log by the water. With that, Hoxley dropped her saddle bags on the rock ledge, leaned her spear against the closest tree and began to get undressed. Taking her cue, Morell and Siouxsie spaced themselves away from her bags and dug into their belongings for their soap bars. When they found them, they each began to kick off their boots and disrobe and slip into the cool water. When Siouxsie removed her hat, the little gel was still resting squarely atop her hair. Hoxley finished untying her top and pulled the cleansing bar from her pack. She gingerly stepped into the shallow end of the pool before setting to the job of cleaning her massive legs. They weren’t in the water for but a moment before Hoxley realized the prince hadn’t disrobed.

  “Don’t you want to wash yourself?” She asked. “You probably smell as bad as the rest of us. It’s good to keep yourself clean.”

  “You’re all going to just bathe together?” He asked to which the others looked at one another a little confused.

  “Why wouldn’t we?” Morell asked “Is there something wrong with us all getting bathed at the same time?”

  “It’s indecent.”

  “Is it?” asked Siouxsie. “We witches sometimes bathe en masse. What’s indecent about it?”

  “You’re all naked and exposed.” he said.

  “Yes, we are.” Said Hoxley. “We all have the same relative parts on our bodies. If you feel ashamed, then simply don’t look at the others. Now get in.”

  “Same relative parts?” The prince asked with a little disgust. “What do you have?”

  “What I have below my waist is really none of anyone’s business but my own. But if your insistence will get you into the water any faster, I don’t have a phallus like you or Morell. Do you not bathe with others where you live? You’re acting oddly.”

  “I’m not acting…oddly. It’s just not something I’m used to seeing. That’s all.”

  “If the sight of others being naked is offensive to you, then don’t look. No one is going to touch your…netherbits while you’re uncovered. I believe you’re thinking about this far more than the rest of us, and honestly, if you run around all the time concerned with what people have under their clothes then you might have bigger problems than you know. The choice is yours but if you choose not to bathe, you’re going to get sweat itches and smell horrible. I don’t know where we’re stopping next, so if the idea of a bath sounds good to you even a little bit, then get in the water. It’s your choice. I’m not going to fight you over this.” With that, Hoxley dunked her cleansing bar to make it lather and proceeded to wash her armpits, hair and horns. The prince looked to Morell and Siouxsie whom seemed to be getting along just fine next to one another washing themselves. He made a backward glance to see Robert looking away and watching the tree line.