Chapter 7 - The Giant Rock

Out of the front window, there were two high mountains far away. On the tops of the mountains, there was white snow just like little white hats for the mountains. 

“Are we going to those mountains?” asked Jane.

“No, we are going between them.” answered August. 

After an hour, they were already bumping up to the gap between the two mountains. The path became rockier and rockier. There were giant rocks beside the path. Pine trees, apple trees and oak trees were standing upright. 

“This path is too steep,” said one of the driver boys. He wore dark gray oval glasses. He had got bushy light brown curly hair, red lips, and a pink face. 

The path is too steep, thought Jane. “What’s your name?” She asked the boy. 

“Derek,” he answered, “My name’s Derek Black. I love the City of the Seasons. I’ve heard that the City of the Seasons is in a huge castle, but I’d never been there before –”

“Why do you wear glasses?” asked Jane.

“Nearsighted,” murmured the boy, “I’ve read too many books before. This is my first time driving now.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” 

Jane suddenly heard a screech. It was Rachel. Jane remembered the nightmare and saw a giant rock suddenly. The rock was about 30 meters in front of the carriage. It was just like the one in Jane’s nightmare. It was really huge and dusty. It was bouncing towards the carriage! Although it was far away from the carriage, it seemed that it was about to crash into the carriage. 

“Turn left! Turn left! Turn left to duck that rock! Otherwise we will be smashed into bits!” yelled one of the driver boys. 

“No! The path is too small for the carriage to turn!” yelled another one. 

“Then what to do? Go backward!” yelled the first one. 

“Be calm! Let’s make the horses turn!” yelled Derek. 

But the horses were too frightened that they couldn’t listen to the boys at all. They raised their front hooves. 

The rock was bouncing nearer and nearer. Jane’s heart was pounding quickly. She looked at the horses. One of them was struggling, one was neighing, one was running forward and jumping, and the last one was trying to turn left. Jane saw the distance between the carriage and the rock was only about 25 meters. The rock rolled around and around in the air when it bounced up above the steep path.

What will happen? What will my mom say if I get knocked into pieces? Will she be angry? What will happen if she didn’t see I’m at home? Oh, home. I missed my room, thought Jane, oh, my mom, my room, my alarm clock, my pictures of reindeers and mushrooms, my mirror, and my teddy bear! Jane was very nervous. She looked at Leo, who remained emotionless but had horror in his dark blue eyes. Jane looked at the giant rock. It was about 5 meters in front of them. The horses neighed loudly and raised their front hooves again.

Oh, no, thought Jane. The distance between the carriage and the rock was only about 2 meters. Rachel and the other bottle carriers screamed and yelled. “NO!” cried Mr. Summer. “It… It is… Get down… Let – let’s – let’s get down…” muttered August,  hiding in a box. 

Jane didn’t want to see what horrible things would happen next moment, so she shut her eyes. “LOOK!” shouted Leo at Jane. Jane opened her eyes. She saw an incredible thing!

She couldn’t believe her eyes. The rock was bouncing over the carriage! It didn’t crash at the carriage at all. It bounced up, landed just in front of the carriage, bounced up again, flew over the carriage and landed behind it. Dust came billowing towards them. Jane rubbed her eyes and looked around.

Mr. Summer was lying on the floor of the carriage quietly. August kept quiet for a moment and climbed out. Jane saw an expression on Leo’s face for the second time. He was smiling. He scratched his cheek and breathed out a sigh of relief. Rachel sat on a seat as still as a statue. Her bottle broke and water spilled all over the carriage floor. The other bottle carriers were standing and looking at each other. Two of the driver boys were pulling the reins. Derek looked around and scratched his chin.

“Phew, that was close,” said Rachel, finally finding her voice.

“Ah –” moaned Mr. Summer, trying to stand up, but slipped and fell and crashed into a pile of tin cans and glass bottles at the back of the carriage. 

“Oh, everybody,” said August loudly, “there’s nothing need to be afraid of now. Get up, and let us go!”

The carriage moved again.