Midwinterblood Part 1, Chapter 9 Summary

  • Biking to this path is taking forever; it's all uphill, and the hills are mega steep.
  • A weird thought occurs to Eric: All day he's been biking around the eastern half of the island and hardly had to peddle at all, but now he can barely get up the hill. He must be onto something.
  • When he gets to the path, he sees thick shrubs and bushes blocking the way; he fights his way through them to a little clearing.
  • There he sees rocks with animal faces painted on them, one of which looks a bit like a dragon. More weirdness.
  • Eric suddenly hears voices back on the path. There are two or three people crowded around his bike and they're talking, but he can't make out what they're saying.
  • When they step away for a second, Eric pushes his way back through the bushes, grabs his bike, and peddles out of there.
  • He eventually finds himself at Tor's house. Inside, he hears Tor arguing with Henrik and Merle.
  • Henrik is doubtful about what they're planning to do, but Tor insists that they need to follow the same path their ancestors did; Merle isn't feeling that great about things either.
  • Tor mentions that Merle has a special place in their hearts since she's youngest person on the island, but, that being said, she doesn't actually know what the heck she's talking about.
  • Merle wonders if Tor has a clue either.
  • Tor is annoyed. He's the Ward of Blessed Island and he's the one who gets to decide, that's final—they all need to play their parts and shut up.
  • Everyone starts arguing again and Eric rushes into the house. Tor meets him in the hallway and they all assure Eric they're just fine. No biggie.
  • Merle and the others head home and Tor offers Eric some more of that delicious tea. Soon, he's feeling tired again… So very tired.