The storm blew out while they were inside the mountain.  The sun was shining and the ground was drying as they emerged through the same crack they went in.

“Where can we find this blasted water that doesn’t lie?” asked Randolph.  The group started up the path again.  “And how can it tell us which way to go?”  He still wanted to go north.

The answer to his first question was almost immediate.

“Look!” said Chris.  There was a sign by the side of the trail.  It read: This way to the Magic Well. And beneath it was an arrow pointing the way, down and to the left.

“Do you think that’s the water that doesn’t lie?” asked Gretel.

“All we can do is go see,” Chris replied

“But can the cart get down there?” Chevy asked.  The beaten path was narrow.

“I think so.  To the side, it’s just grass and flowers,” said Hombre.  “Follow me.”  And they fell in behind him and Harley.

The well turned out to be in a small clearing beside a solitary oak.  It was small and not much to look at.  Its wall was built from round mountain stones, smoothed from years of tumbling down streams.  And they were covered with moss.  Two posts supported a slanted roof that had once been painted red.  Through the posts was mounted a shaft with a handle and a frayed rope wrapped around it.  Dangling from the rope was a rusty pail that was barely visible in the depth of the opening.  A wooden bench sat in the shade of the tree for weary travelers to rest.  Scattered around it were broken cups and tins.  A faded sign was nailed to the roof was also covered by moss, which made it hard to read.  But the words that were visible said:

“Hasten to the water’s…voice…”

Once Llywarch got within fifty feet of it, they could all read it in their own language.

“What language is the sign written actually in?” Chevy asked the wizard.

“It’s in Basque,” Llywarch answered.

“Amazing,” said Rosa.  “It looks like Spanish.”

“Except it’s missing some accent marks,” insisted Chevy.

“Is this the water that old woman was talking about?” demanded Randolph.

But no one was sure.  Llywarch asked, “What’s this about a voice?  I’ve never heard of talking water before.”

“What about a babbling brook?” offered Chris.

Llywarch gave him a pained look.  “What did your mother say to you about never being serious?”

Rosa tossed her curls in disgust.  “He doesn’t even respect his mother.”

“Do you think the old woman wanted us to talk to this well?“ asked Gretel.

Randolph snorted.  He didn’t think the old woman knew what she wanted.  But he suggested, “Let’s test it.  Go ahead, ask it something.”

Gretel went to the side of the well and called down, “How is my garden doing back home?”

There was a pause, then from the depth of the well came, “The daffodils are blooming, but the roses need pruning,” in a high crackly voice.

“Oh,” said Gretel, surprised.  “I figured the roses would need pruning, but I didn’t know I had daffodils.”

“Amazing,” said Llywarch.  “Let me try.”  He asked, “How is my Welsh bowling team doing?”

“The team has lost all its matches since you went away,” the well replied.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” he admitted.  “They lost all of them when I was there.”

 “What’s bowling?” Rosa asked Chris.

“It’s a game where players roll balls on a lawn to see who can get closest to the first ball thrown.”

“Do you like to bowl?”

“Yes.  When I’m on shore, I find it relaxing”

“In Spain, real men fight bulls,” Rosa retorted.

“Someone else ask it a question,” said Llywarch.

Rosa ran up to the well and asked, “How is my father doing?  Does he miss me?”

“Your father is well rid of you.  You are a stubborn, headstrong, and disobedient girl.”

There was an awkward silence.

“Well, “ said Llywarch.  “I’m convinced.”  The others nodded in agreement.

Chevy went up to the well and asked.  “What can I do to improve the suspension on a duel axle oxcart?”

“WHAT?  Why are you asking me that?  Er…I mean… water…er…find the water.  That is… listen to…or…use the water…  Whatever!  Anyway the answer is water.  I DO NOT LIE!”

Chevy turned away puzzled.

Randolph and Hombre both approached at the same time.

“Which way should we go to get to England?”

“Where can we find food?”

“North!” said the well to both of them.  “Go north.”

“That’s what I thought all along,” stated Randolph.

“But north is dangerous,” insisted Hansel.  “We have women and animals.  No one, but Hombre, is clothed to withstand the bitter cold.  And we’ll have to leave the oxcart if the path gets too narrow.”

Chevy looked concerned.

“Forgive me for saying this,” replied Randolph.  “I know you’re a prince and all, but you’ve no experience leading men ­‑ or even women.”  He paused and smiled at Gretel and Rosa, who blushed.  “Sometimes a leader has to take risks.  Besides this well seems to agree.”

Harshly spoken to, Hansel clenched his fists and made no reply.

“But I don’t see how we can find food on a glacier,“ Hombre insisted.

“If…we travel hard and fast, we can get out the mountains while we still have the strength.  And the effort should keep us warm,” Randolph insisted.  “Where there’s ice, there’s water to drink.  That’s the most important thing.  If we go a little hungry, we can survive.  We’ll just lose a little weight.”

Neither Rosa nor Gretel had much to lose, but Rosa said, “We’ll try.”

Gretel went her brother and put a hand on his arm.  “Maybe we should listen to him, Hansel.  He’s experienced and I can’t believe Randy…Captain Earl that is…would lead us astray.”

“Uncle Larry, what do the seeds say?”

“Sunflower seeds aren’t much help here.  The peaks are too high; the seeds can’t see that far.”

“Look!  Here’s an acorn.  Ask it.”

“Chris!  You know the problem with those - half of them lie.”

“Ask anyway and if it agrees with the well we know it’s an honest one.”

Llywarch took the acorn and held it up to the sun.  He sighed and told them, “The acorn says to go east and under no circumstance should we head north where there’re glaciers and giants.”

“That nut’s nuts,” insisted Randolph.

Llywarch threw it away, and they headed north.

Chris stayed behind for a moment.  When he was alone, he whispered down the well.  “How can I make sure Rosa’s father’s safe?”

“Too late!” the well cackled.  “It is far, far too late!”

As Chris hurried to catch up, he didn’t know what to tell Rosa.  Behind him, continued the hideous cackling of the well.

The trail north was steep and treacherous.  High above loomed craggy, snowcapped peaks.  Ancient glaciers could be seen in high valleys.  Small slides fell away beneath their feet as they journeyed upward.  The wheels of the oxcart often came precariously close to its edges.  Hansel was in the lead because he had experience hiking in the Alps.  Hombre was behind him walking and leading Harley.  The trail was too steep to ride.  Randolph was assisting Gretel.  Chevy was guiding Rex, while Llywarch pushed on the back of the cart.

Chris and Rosa were in the rear, arguing.

“How can you say that you were better behaved as a child than me?” said Chris.  “I didn’t run away from my family.”

“The difference,” insisted Rosa, “is that I ran away to help my father.  I didn’t embarrass him by telling stupid jokes in public.”

“You encouraged Chevy to run away and Hombre to steal a pig.

“Harley is a hog!”

Chris snorted.

Rosa ignored that.  “Chevy has no parents left.  His mother married a foreigner, some sailor from England, and they were lost at sea, while immigrating to the New World.  They left Chevy behind because he was still a baby.  They were going to send for him once they got settled.  But they never made it.  All Chevy has left is a chain and part of an amulet from his father.  He wears it around his neck.  That’s how they were going to recognize him when he arrived.  His father must have drowned still wearing the other half.  I remember that Chevy’s father was nice, even though he was from England.  Obviously no relation to you.  Are you sure you’re related to William?”

Chris snorted again.

Rosa had one last offense to lay at Chris’s feet.  “I know you’re more disobedient than me because you went away for three years and never phoned home!”

“WHAT?  What does that mean…phone home?”

“I don’t know, but Larry says children in the future won’t do it.  It sounds horrible!”

Chris let out a string of English.  But Llywarch had moved beyond his fifty foot range, so Rosa was not offended.

“I will take that as an apology,” she said, and hurried to catch up with the others.

Up ahead, Randolph held Gretel’s hand.  “For your safety,” he told her, as she blushed.

The group rounded a bend and came upon a chasm thousands of feet deep.  A raging river and a waterfall could be seen far below.  Next to the river was a grove of trees.  It was an orchard, but from that height they looked like vegetables.

“I’ve never cared for broccoli,” Chris was reminded..

Rosa snorted, but some of the others looking down nodded in agreement.

The only way across was a narrow suspension bridge with a bottom of wooden planks threaded with rope.  Additional rope was strung to make sides and handrails.  The bridge stretched out a hundred feet.

“I am sorry,” Hansel told Chevy.  “Here’s where we have to leave the cart.  But I think we should take Rex.”  He didn’t mention that the animals might become food if they got stranded on the ice.

Hansel went across first, leading Rex.  If the bridge held the two of them, he was confident the others could cross safely.  Next followed Hombre leading Harley.  Then Chevy and Llywarch.

Randolph was escorting Gretel when she looked down and froze.  He swept her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way.  “Thank you, Randy” she whispered to him, leaning against him a little longer than necessary when he set her down on the other side.

Rosa strode across without any hesitation, although her knuckles were white where they gripped the ropes.

Chris watched her sway with the motion of the bridge.  He enjoyed it.

As they continued upward, Llywarch pulled out his sunflower seeds and held them up.  He called out, “Stop!”

Out front, Hansel stopped and turned to ask what was wrong.  Just then a huge boulder fell from the mountain above him, destroying the trail in front of him, before bouncing on down the mountain.

“FE!  FI!  FO!  FUM!” came echoing down the peaks.

“It’s the giants,” Llywarch said.  “They’re attacking.  Chevy, take a step forward.”

Chevy, who was at the back of the group, moved as another boulder struck behind him.

“Oh, FUM!” came a voice, as it missed.

“Run for it,” said Llywarch.

They jumped over the hole left by the first boulder and ran uphill, with boulders falling behind them.  At last they rounded another bend and the attack stopped

They collapsed, out of breath, under an overhang of snow and icicles.

“This should hide us for a while,” Hansel said.

“Why didn’t you warn us sooner?” Randolph asked Llywarch.

He shook the seeds.  “I can only see a little ways.  We’re lucky it was before the rocks hit.  Where the giants came from, I can’t tell.”

“Where are they now?” asked Chris.

Llywarch held the seeds up.  “I can’t tell.”

“I smell the blood of an Englishman!” boomed from a peak behind them.

Hansel explained, “There’re two peaks above us.  We ran from beneath one to beneath the other.  The giants will have to cross a glacier and climb the second before they attack us here.”

“Why don’t they come up the trail after us?” asked Randolph.

“They can’t,” said Hansel.  “It’s destroyed.”  Behind them was pitted with holes.

“And we can’t go back?” asked Gretel, as Randolph put an arm around her to comfort her.

“The giants won’t show themselves.  They prefer to fight from higher ground,” said Llywarch.  “That’s why they fled to the mountains.  When they get to the top of this peak, we’ll be bombarded again.”

“Can you see where they are now?” Chris repeated.

Llywarch tried.  “No.  The clouds are blocking my view.  I’m not sure if I’m seeing shadowy figures, or odd shaped clouds rolling in.”

“I smell the blood of an Englishman!”

“Hansel was right,” said Gretel.  “We shouldn’t have come north.”

“But I need to get my report to England,” Randolph insisted.

“It would have been better to go to the Black Forest and then north,” replied Hombre.

The others agreed.

Gretel shook off his arm and moved away from Randolph.

“FE!  FI!  FO!  FUM!  I smell the blood of an Englishman!”

“Can they really smell us?” asked Rosa.

“He’s not smelling me or Chris,” said Llywarch.  “We’re from Wales.”

“Neither Gretel nor I are English,” added Hansel.

“Hombre, Chevy, and I are Spanish,” insisted Rosa.  “Wait!  Chevy, you’re half English, aren’t you?”

“No,” replied Chevy.  “My father was Welsh, also.”

“FE!  FI!  FO!  FUM!”  The sound was almost above them.

“Then who are the giants smelling?” asked Rosa.

Everyone looked at Randolph, who was sniffing his shirt.

“No matter."  Hansel took charge.  “We can’t stay here or we’ll soon be flattened.  Since we can’t go back, north is the only way we have left.  Let me do some scouting.  Stay here until I get back.”

“Wait!  Let me do it,” requested Randolph.

“I know you’re brave, and I know you’re a leader,” replied Hansel.  “But you’re a sailor.  You know the sea.  I’m the one with experience in the mountains.”

Randolph stayed put when everyone else agreed.

 “Hurry back.  The giants will soon reach the peak,” said Hombre, as Hansel left.

“Be careful,” called Gretel.  Then she turned and accused Randolph.  “You were sure that this was the way to go.  You said you have the experience to know!”

Randolph sighed.  “I wish I’d made the trip by myself, and saved you from danger.”

 “You haven’t earned one,” Llywarch reminded him.

Gretel turned her back on him.

At this height, the travelers were higher than the tree line.  They were past all vegetation.  Around them was snow and rock.  Above them were glaciers and peaks.  A fierce wind began to blow.  But all they could do was wait.

Randolph tried to put his arm around a shivering Gretel.  Chris tried to put his arm around a shivering Rosa.  At first both girls refused, but as it grew colder they were forced to accept and snuggle close.  Hombre crouched beside Harley, while Chevy and Llywarch crawled behind Rex.

At last Hansel returned.  Flapping his arms for warmth, he said, “There’s a narrow ridge that leads to the only glacier that crosses the divide.  And it’s higher than anything near it, so the giants can’t get above us.  If they refuse to be seen, we should be safe.  But we must hurry across it to get to warmer levels before night falls.  We have to stay close together and hold hands, so that no one falls.”  They grabbed hands and Hansel started out.

“FO!” came from above them.

A rock hit in front of Hansel, tearing out another hole.  Startled he lost his grip.  This hole spread and the ground under Hansel disappeared before he could step back.  Hombre tried to grab him, but he was not in time.  They watched in horror, as Hansel tumbled over granite and snow - until he disappeared into the grove of trees beside the river far below.

Gretel shrieked!

Llywarch stomped on the sunflower seeds.  “I should have seen that!” he said.  A few icicles fell around them.

Randolph struggled with Gretel as she tried to throw herself over the side after her brother.  “Stay put, “ he ordered.  “This is my fault.  I’ll climb down and rescue him.  Let’s hope the snow broke his fall.”

But before he could start, there came a terrific roar and the ground began to shake.

“Is that the giants?” Rosa asked.

But before anyone could answer, an avalanche of snow swept them off the trail and down the mountain after Hansel.

They tumbled as if they were caught in the crest of an ocean wave, sometimes coming up for air, before being sucked back under.  It seemed like hours, but was only moments before the avalanche broke up on the grove that swallowed Hansel.

Randolph pulled himself free of the snow and helped Gretel who was beside to him.  “Are you all right?” he asked.

Gretel brushed herself off and peered through the trees.  “I must find Hansel,” she said.

The others were pulling themselves free.  Chevy crawled out of a snow bank behind Rex, while Hombre emerged from a drift riding Harley.

“Get off me, you oaf!”  Rosa was beating Chris about the head and shoulders.

Chris rolled over and onto his back in the snow.  “I am sorry,” he said.  “I was dazed for a minute.”

Rosa struggled to climb out of the depression they left.  She brushed off her skirt and shook the snow from her curls.  Then she kicked him.  “I’ll daze you!” she said.

Llywarch and Hansel were nowhere to be seen.

“What are you doing here?”  It was the old woman they met in the ravine.  She emerged from the trees dragging a sack of green apples.  The snow almost up to the top of her hip boots.

“Good mother, we’re hungry and cold,” said Hombre.  “Can we have some of your apples?”

“Certainly,” she replied.  “But you may not like them.  They’re sour and full of worms.  That’s the way the giants like them.”  Still she gave them each an apple.

Hombre took an extra one for Harley and then bit into his.  “Not bad,” he said, as a worm escaped out of the bottom end, crawling down his leg and burrowing into the snow.

The others decided to save theirs for later.

“Have you seen Hansel?” asked Gretel.  “He fell just before the snow swept us here.”

“No,” said the woman.  She pointed to the piles of white dropped by the avalanche.  “He could be under any one of those.”

“I found him, “ cried Chevy.  “And he’s alive.  Over here.”  He led them around the side of a tree.

There was Hansel, looking pale and weak, half sitting and half lying against its trunk.  He was biting an apple to ease the pain.  Half a worm was dangling from it.  Hansel’s left leg was stretched before him, but his right one was bent at an angle showing beyond doubt that it was broken.  He had somehow managed to pack snow around it to ease the swelling.

“Is he all right?” asked Gretel.

“He’ll live,” said the woman, after examining the leg.  “But it’s a bad break.  If he does not get medical attention soon, he may never walk right again.”

Gretel fell on his chest and wept.  This caused Hansel to drop the apple in pain, allowing the other half of the worm to escape.  It crawled around blindly, not seeing where it was going.

“Oww!” he moaned.

Randolph was beside himself.  It was his fault.  If he hadn’t forced them to go north, none of this would have happened.  “How can we get him out of here?” he asked.

‘I wish we still had the oxcart,” said Chevy.

“Have you earned a wish?” Chris asked.

Sadly Chevy shook his head.

“Where’s Larry?” said Rosa, when she suddenly realized Llywarch wasn’t with them.

“I don’t know.”  No one had seen the wizard since they fell.

“He must be near,” said Randolph, “because we can understand each other.”

“That’s good thinking,” Hombre admitted.

“Let’s quarter the area and search,” said Chris.

“We can use language to our advantage,” insisted Randolph.  “Rosa, walk in that direction – while counting in Spanish.  When we no longer understand you, you will have gone outside of Larry’s range.”

“One.  Two.  Three.  Four.  Five.  Six.  Siete.”

Randolph called her back.  “We know he’s fifty feet from where you stopped,” he said.  “But in which direction?”

He sent Chris in the opposite direction.

“One.  Two.  Three.  Four.  Five.  Six.  Seven.  Eight.  Nine…”

“Did he say, ‘Nine’ or ‘Nein’,” asked Hansel.

Chris counted to twelve before Hansel couldn’t understand him.

Hombre and Chevy walked off the last two points of the compass.

When they were done, Randolph walked to a snow bank in the center of the grove.  It was the highest one, containing the largest amount of the snow deposited by the avalanche.

As he neared it, he could see ten purple dots, wiggling near its top.

He reached up and grabbed them, pulling Llywarch out by his toes.

”Thank you,” said the wizard, as he coughed and sputtered.  His beard and string hung wet and limp against his robe.

“What are you doing here?” asked the woman.  “Didn’t I tell you to follow the water that doesn’t lie?”

“We did,” they insisted.

“We found the Magic Well,” Chris said.  “And we asked it which way to go and it said north.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“But water doesn’t talk.”  She pointed a bony finger at Chris and warned him, “Don’t say anything about a babbling brook.”

Rosa snorted again.  “See, nobody thinks you’re funny.”

“But you told us the water wouldn’t lie,” Randolph said.

“Of course, it doesn’t.  It runs down hill.  If you follow water down hill, it’ll take you out of the mountains.  Everyone knows that.”  She looked at them like they were idiots.

“We misunderstood,” admitted Hansel.

“We climbed the mountain for nothing,” said Hombre.

“I lost my oxcart,” added Chevy.

“My brother broke his leg on a false promise,” said Gretel.

“I’m cold,” said Llywarch, and he sneezed.

Rosa glared at Chris.  Somehow she was sure it was his fault.

But Randolph knew it was his own.  “I wish we were back where we were before we headed north.”

First there was a tinkling in Llywarch’s ear.  Then…

WHOOSH!

There was a flash of lightning, a cloud of smoke, and the roar of thunder.  Then Llywarch, Rosa, Chevy, Hombre, Hansel, Gretel, Randolph, Chris, Rex, Harley, and the old woman appeared in the clearing by the solitary oak tree, in front of the Magic Well.

Hansel’s leg was mended as good as new.  As an added benefit, they were all dry and their clothes were again laundered.  Even the oxcart was back, with Rex standing yoked in front of it.

Randolph pointed the old woman to the sign over the well and said, “See.  It says, ‘Hasten to the water’s voice’.”

Without a word she picked up a stick and walked over to the well.  She reached up and scrapped moss away from the rest of the words.  Now it read:

 “Hasten to the water’s brink

And downward cast your voice

Then raise the pail and you shall drink

The beverage of your choice.”

“Blimey,” said Chris.  “It’s a pub.”  He started to turn the handle.

There was a fluttering deep in the well.  A crackly voice said, ”What are you doing up there?  Didn’t I tell you to go north?  GO NORTH, I SAY!  I DO NOT LIE!  HEY!  LOWER THIS PAIL!”

As Chris continued to turn the crank, the brown head of a chicken came into view.

“It’s a Devil Chicken!” Chevy said.

Chris grabbed it by the neck before it could fly away.

A short while later they were all sitting around a fire eating roast chicken and drinking whatever they ordered from the well.

“This must have been a younger hen,” Hombre said.  “It’s still tender.”

“What’s everyone drinking?” asked Chris, after taking a swig of English ale.

“I have grog,” said Randolph.

Hombre had eggnog.  Hansel and the old woman were drinking beer, while Gretel had mint tea.

Llywarch and Chevy were sharing a concoction from the future.  “It is called ‘Cherry Coke’,” explained Llywarch.

Rosa took a sip of her drink and spit it out.  “This is water!” she said.  “I asked for wine.”

“Here’s the problem,” said the old woman.  She grabbed the stick and went back to the sign, clearing away the moss from the very bottom.

Which revealed:

“Must be 21 to order alcoholic beverages.”

At last everyone was satisfied.

“I admit I made a mistake going north,” said Randolph, wiping his hands on the grass beside him.  “And I’m sorry for what I said about you, Hansel.  I‘d be happy to follow you, any day.”  They shook hands on it.  “Now let’s follow your advice and head to the Black Forest.”

“I can help you there,” said the old woman.

Everyone turned to her in surprise.

“How can you help?” asked Rosa.

“Why,” the old woman chuckled.  “I am wearing seven league boots.  With every step I take, I travel twenty-one miles.  I’ll get you there in no time.”

“Can you really?” asked Gretel.

“I think I’d better,” replied the woman.  “That way I can be sure that you don’t bother my giants.”

Everyone sat on the oxcart and the old woman placed a hand on both Rex and Harley.  The clearing around them dissolved into a blur as she took her first step.

In just minutes, she stopped.  “Here you are,” she said.

But they weren’t in the Black Forest.  They were on the western shore of the Adriatic Sea.  Before them was an Italian city.

“Oops,” said the old woman.  “That’s a problem I sometimes have.  I tend to bear to the right because I have a corn on that foot.  Oh well!  At least you’re closer.”

And with another step, she vanished.