Page 28 of No Escape

We stopped in front of the only entrance to the hedge I could see. Brando stood next to a metal sign on a post nearby that read Garden Maze. “We’ve arrived,” he announced.

“A maze?” Tito asked in surprise. “That’s our challenge?”

“That’s notexactlyyour challenge,” Brando said. “It’ll be a bit more complex than that, I’m afraid.”

I studied the maze entrance. Flanking each side of the path were twin marble pillars with carved alabaster vines.

“That’s strange,” my mom said. “Those columns look different from the ones I’m used to seeing. Why is the top round like that?”

My gaze rose to the top of the column. I didn’t notice anything unusual, but I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. I’d never spent much time looking at architectural columns.

Brando seemed delighted by my mom’s observation. “You have a keen eye, Mrs. Carmichael, although if you’ve spent much time in Rome, you’d find column tops like this are not uncommon. These are the Roman version of the classical Greek column styles. We call them Tuscan columns, and they have the more rounded top, as you noted. Many of the Roman elite were quite enamored with Greek architecture, so you will still see a lot of the Greek style, even in Rome. I must say, however, your powers of observation for small details bodes well for how you might perform in the maze.”

I looked at my mom in surprise. Since when did she know so much about Greek and Roman architecture?

My mom preened a bit with the compliment. She met my gaze and lifted an eyebrow at me. Maybe my dad was right and Ihadbeen underestimating my mother all these years.

“In order to complete this challenge, you must enter the maze, find a golden disc like this, and return it to me on the veranda within two hours,” Brando instructed. He held up a round golden disc about three inches in diameter. “The disc will have a number engraved on one side.”

We waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t, my dad spoke up. “That’s it? We go into the maze and retrieve a hidden golden disc within two hours?”

“That’s it. One other condition is that everyone must be out of the maze before the two hours are up. Does everyone understand?”

I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but navigating an outdoor maze where I had to retrieve a golden disc without much explanation had not been in my repertoire of possibilities.

When no one said anything, Brando beamed. “Wonderful!” He glanced at his watch. “Two hours from now will be 11:47. Good luck with your task and may fortune smile on you.”

Giving no further instructions, he turned and disappeared back toward the castle.

Chapter Fifteen

Lexi Carmichael

We stood there for a moment, staring dumbly at each other, until I realized everyone was looking at me.

“Ah…” I stammered. “Do you want me to take the lead on this puzzle?”

“Of course we do,” my mom said. “So, now what?”

It wasn’t exactly the rousing cry of confidence I might have hoped for, but no one was contradicting her, so I guess there was that. “We have to explore the maze and find the disc. Two hours seems like a long time for us to search a maze, especially with six people doing it, so there must be something tricky about how it’s hidden. Unless anyone objects, let’s divide up and explore every inch of the maze.”

“Sounds good, Lexi, but how will we know which passages have been explored and which ones we still need to do?” Oscar asked.

“Good question,” I said.

“The paths are made of rocks and gravel, so we won’t be leaving any footprints,” my dad said. “So, we’ll have to think of another way to mark it as explored.”

“How about at every place where the path divides, we leave a small pile of gravel on the right side, just past the fork, to indicate the path has been searched?” Tito suggested. “That way we won’t miss it or walk through it by accident.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said. “If we’re systematic from the start, it should save us time later if we have problems figuring out what still needs to be searched. Does everyone understand what we’re doing? We’re going to split the maze into sections and comb it, all of us looking for a golden disc. If you find it, yell loudly.”

Everyone nodded, and I blew out a breath, staring at the maze. “Okay, it looks like the maze divides into two directions. There are six of us, so let’s split into two teams. Oscar and Mia, you’re with me. Mom, Dad, and Tito, you go in the opposite direction. If any of you hit a dead end, backtrack until you find an unexplored path and follow that. Make sure to leave a pile of rocks to indicate the path has been explored. If anyone has any questions or finds something weird, just yell. We should be able to hear each other fairly well, and the gamemaster didn’t say we couldn’t shout or discuss things within the maze.”

We plunged into the maze, the thick green foliage and branches making me feel slightly claustrophobic. I led the way with Mia in the middle and Oscar taking the rear. It didn’t take long to realize it was going to be a lot more difficult than expected. There were no straight paths or ninety-degree corners. Everything was a curve, and I quickly lost track of where the entrance to the maze was located. But I couldn’t worry about that now. We had to find the disc first and worry about getting out later.

As we came to the first fork, I sent Mia down it. “Make sure you build a little pile just a couple of steps down the path to show you’ve explored it. Keep going forward and shout if you find anything or if you need one of us. You okay with that?”

“Sure. I’m feeling as fat as a fiddle. By the way, what’s a fiddle?”

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