The Incredible Journey of Pete McGee by Adam Wallace Page A

embedded with magic. If thou art forced to use it, the dagger shall seek out any attacker and guide thine arm to them.’
    Pete placed the dagger in his belt. He could feel the coldness of the metal against his skin, even through his clothes.
    â€˜Continue on, Sir Pete McGee, and as thou travels, remember to believe in thyself. Thou can accomplish greatness on this journey, but thou must not let cruel words sway thee from thy course. Thou art well on the way to becoming a fine man; a true knight. It is a path littered with danger and doubt, but if thou doth stay true to thyself, goals and dreams shall be reached, and greatness found.’
    Pete nodded, turned, and began walking once again, more determined than ever to attain the Wilderene Flower and rescue Marloynne. Suddenly he realised what was different about Sir Loinsteak. He had lost his edge, his sharpness. There had been a slight blur around the edge of the knight, although it had been hard to notice due to the aura the man had. Pete also realised that he hadn’t thanked Sir Loinsteak for the dagger, but as he turned he had the feeling that he would be alone. And he was right.

    Wow, phew, that was close huh? I mean, I was almost out of a job there. If Pete McGee had kept walking home that would have been it, end of story. Not even a happily ever after in there. Nothing to see here folks, move along to the next book please. But that knight though, Sir Loinsteak, he’s pretty cool, huh? He’s got a way with words too. I mean, you know, all those doths and thous and thees and thys and needests and all that. Pretty la dee da fancy schmancy, but it seems to work. Pete McGee’s back on track, ready to go ahead with his journey, his quest if you will.
    So do you know what happens next? Got any idea what faces our young hero? No? Well I’m not going to tell you here. You’ll just have to keep reading.

ete McGee walked on, eyes down, staring at the ground. Cyril and his merry men had a bit of a lead now, but that wasn’t a huge issue. He just needed to keep following the road which, he suddenly noticed, went into a fork about 50 metres ahead. Pete groaned out loud, wondering which way he should take. The Green Book hadn’t mentioned any fork. Pete looked along the choice to the left. It was a nice little road that ran alongside the river, bordered by thick, leafy green trees, brightly coloured flowers and people dancing and singing. Everyone was smiling and laughing; it looked like a wonderful road to take. Pete turned his attention to the right. It didn’t look too great by itself, let alone in comparison to the left road. It went straight for a bit then curved and went uphill. Way uphill. In fact, it was the steepest hill Pete had ever seen. People slowly walked up its gravel path, grumbling and mumbling to themselves. There were no smiles on their faces and there was certainly no singing. Even the people coming down were having trouble, the hill was so steep. There was one old man at the bottom of the hill in a heap, having rolled down the last little bit. Pete ran over to help him up. As he did he asked if the royal party had gone by. The man brushed Pete’s arm away, telling him not to hark up about royals, they never gave the common man anything. Then he started up the hill again. Weird.
    Pete pondered his choices. There was left, with the happy people, the river, and the colour and joy. Or there was right, with no happy people and one steep mumma of a hill. Left? Right? Pete had no idea which one would take him to the Plains of Obon. They were both headed in the right direction now, but who knew if they twisted and turned ahead or not? Left or right?
    â€˜Having a little trouble deciding?’
    Pete had been so lost in his thoughts that the voice made him jump. It had come from his left, but when he looked left there was no-one there. He lowered his gaze and saw a tiny little man. Now Pete wasn’t exactly tall, but