The Hungry Garden

Chapter Fifteen: The Great Egg Hunt

The Journal of Adelia Claydon

April 17th

Uncle Morbid had told us to prepare for outdoor exertion, so for  our next visit to the Mortal Masquerade we set aside our ballgowns in  favour of tennis skirts and blouses. Our Mother commented on this being  odd attire for us to be wearing to an evening event, we told her we had  been invited for a late game of badminton. She considered this as  unladylike as everything else she saw us do, but as she had no more  influence over us than our ridiculous Father she could only watch us go.  I was quite civil about it, but Larkin would surely have said something  unduly sarcastic had our carriage not arrived to end the conversation.

Upon arriving at Morior Hall we were directed away from the main  house and through a small copse to a beautiful spot on the side of a  small pretty lake. There were tables and cabanas set around a central  square glowing slightly in the evening sun as masked guests began to  gather. Uncle Morbid came to welcome us and invited us to take a seat  next to a pair of gentlemen and their lady companion, who got up at one  point to perform an adept and skilful fire dance in the centre of the  square. They acted as if we had met before, though Larkin and I could  not recall any such encounter. Apparently they ran a small magic theatre  nearby. It sounded quite charming, we must pay it a visit.

Our opponents arrived shortly after we did. Elbert Makabra had  exchanged his opera dress for a dark blue riding suit tucked into long  boots. On anyone other than this wretched individual it might have  looked quite dashing. Amethyst Annie wore her usual red skirt with an  extravagant seafaring blouse, looking like the Queen of the Pirates.  Knowing the manner of brigand this person was, this was an appropriate  image for her.

Uncle Morbid called for everyone's attention, to explain the  rules of the wide game to come. This time we would be joining in  competition with all the attendees of the Mortal Masquerade, although  the real contest as far as we were concerned would remain between  ourselves and Elbert and Annie.

"Welcome to the Jungle," Uncle Morbid began. "We have added some  new areas of interest this year, one of which will be the main venue for  our game this evening that I'll come to in a moment. Northwest of here  you will find the quicksand beds, while dotted around the paths you  might run into various automotive animals. Most of them are currently  harmless, but a couple can and will consume you if you happen to linger  in the wrong spot. There will be entertainment provided here in the main  square, but the real business of the evening will be the great egg hunt  in the area just around the lake, that we call the Hungry Garden."

He produced a painted egg about the size of an apple and showed it to the crowd.

"Playing alone or in pairs, you will be given a satchell which  you must fill with plastic eggs like the one in my hand. You will find  them in various locations around the garden, but they are guarded by a  variety of carnivorous plants that will trap and consume the unwary. You  may not take more than one egg from the same batch – the eggs are  marked so we know where they came from.

"You will have ninety minutes to search the garden, after which  all surviving players will meet in a circle of torches at the centre,  where a particularly special tree awaits. This tree, the Madagascan Sacrifice Tree, holds golden eggs which are worth five regular eggs, but  has a much higher probability of eating those that go near it. It will  be your decision, should you reach that point, whether to try your luck  with it. Until the proper time, please do not enter the circle of the  Sacrifice Tree, anyone doing so will be disqualified.

"If you are trapped by a plant you will find escape near  impossible, leaving you to be slowly digested. If this happens and you  are unable to free yourself, you may consider yourself eliminated from  the game and your avatar deceased, but our angels will be unable to take  you to Limbo until the game is completed. I wish you all the best of  luck, those of you that survive will return here afterwards where the  winners will be declared."