Episode 4 - Chapter 82

“I very much doubt that,” Raven replies.

The girl says nothing, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards her. She pirouettes round him to slice another rotting head from the shoulders of a man approaching from behind.

“We've got to get out of here,” she says, “they use contained areas to overwhelm you with their numbers.”

She grabs his arm, tugging at him as she starts to run through the supermarket.

“I don't have time for this,” Raven says, but she yanks at him with such ferocity that he has little choice but to follow. They hurry down an aisle lined with tins and jars, the girl slicing her way past any customers in their path.

Episode 4 - Chapter 81

Raven is even more shocked when the rotting face in front of him is severed from the body that carries it around.

“You can't let them touch you,” a girl's voice screams at him.

As head and body tumble separately to the ground its owner is revealed. To Raven's eyes, she's twelve or thirteen, Asian, dressed in blue pyjamas covered with pictures of superheroes and wearing oversized dragon's head slippers. In her hands she's holding the biggest samurai sword Raven has ever seen.

“I beg your pardon?” he says, somewhat taken aback by the recent turn of events.

“You can't let them touch you,” she says. “Just one scratch and you become like them.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 80

“But...” my wife was clearly perplexed.

“Let me try to explain,” Oak continued. “Nothing in the Weave is real, it is all made up, imagined, dreamt. And in those places where it touches the Warp, reality becomes...” He paused, obviously looking for the right words. “Imagine that the Warp is a block of ice,” he continued, “and the Weave is fire. What happens when the two meet?”

“The ice melts?” Mary asked.

“Exactly!” Oak was triumphant. “And that's what happens when the Warp meets the Weave. Reality melts.”

I wasn't standing for this. “Don't talk rubbish,” I said, “Reality can't melt.”

“No, of course not,” Oak replied, “But it can become more fluid.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 79

The bushes rustle as Larry and Curly head off, while Mo peers down at her.

“Go back to the last junction,” he tells her, “then turn left, and follow that with a right.”

Fiona sets off, following the instructions Mo gives her.

“We haven't hit a dead end of a while now,” she says a little later. “This may be working.”

“We believe we have a route fathomed, if only the bushes would keep their place. Turn left at the next, no turn right. Apologies, m'lady, we are having to rewrite the route as we go along.”

He's just finished speaking when a growl rumbles through the maze, loud and hungry and almost certainly in pain.

“Poor blind teddy,” it snarls.

Episode 4 - Chapter 78

“It's gotta be worth a try,” Fiona says.

Strauss removes his cloak and quickly dissolves into Larry, Curly and Mo. With ungainly agility they quickly scale the hedgerow to stand atop. “The surface is unfirm,” they say, “but we believe it will hold.”

Fiona struggles to gain any purchase with the hedge, branches bending and snapping in her hands. No matter how she tries, she cannot find enough support to get her off the ground. She almost feels like she's fighting it rather than climbing. “I don't think it will take my weight,” she tells them after a few minutes. “I'm never going to get up there.

“Then we shall walk up here,” Strauss tells her, “to help guide you down there. One of me will stay here, to give you directions, while the other two will scout ahead.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 77

“Well isn't that just peachy?” Fiona asks.

“It would appear that the maze changes itself,” Strauss says.

“Duh!” Fiona replies, then “No, sorry. Forget I said that. Any clever idea as to what we could do now?”

“There is a notion that has occurred to us recently,” he says “but its implementation will depend on the sturdiness of the hedge itself.”

“Oh yes? And what's that then?”

“We could climb up and find our route across the top of the hedge.” He shrugs “At the very least, we would be able to see where we are going.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 76

“Okay,” Fiona tells him, “I'll do what I can.”

They turn a corner to a second dead end.

“Back the way we came,” she says, walking back to the previous intersection, carving a cross through the markings on the ground, then proceeding to the one before that.

They continue like this for some time, meeting dead ends, and doubling back, sometimes three or four turnings. Fiona thinks she might scream when they might find yet another dead end.

“Oh dear,” she hears Strauss say, looking at the ground.

She looks down to see an arrow carved into the ground. The arrow is pointing towards the dead end.

Episode 4 - Chapter 75

They continue like this for a while, Strauss choosing directions which Fiona carves into the ground. It isn't long, however, before they come to their first dead end.

“That's okay,” Fiona declares. She walks back to the previous intersection to carve a line in front of the arrow. “We'll go the other way.”

“If we might make a suggestion?” Strauss enquires.

“Suggest away,” she tells him, “Anything that might help.”

“We believe our progress may be improved if you were to imagine finding the hole.”

“Imagine....?”

“Yes, picture yourself turning a corner and seeing a hole in the ground.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 74

“We are hardly in a position to know,” Strauss replies.

“You've been here before,” Fiona jabs her stick at him, “I haven't, so you're better suited to lead the way. Which feels better to you, left or right?”

“We do not know.”

“Then guess.”

“Left, we would suggest left.”

Fiona kneels down on the grass beneath her feet and uses the stick to carve an arrow pointing left into the turf.

“Left it is,” she says, walking ten paces to the next intersection. “Now?”

“Right feels appropriate.”

Once more she carves an arrow, this time pointing right, and walks the next ten paces.

Episode 4 - Chapter 73

“Do you think we have any chance at all of finding this ladder in the ground of yours?”

“This is the Weave, m'lady. Here, everything is possible.”

“Then off we go,” Fiona declares, marching towards the maze entrance.

“Is that not a little rash?” Strauss asks as he follows her.

“Back there,” Fiona waves towards the stairs, “Is trouble. This is nowhere. Somewhere out there is the way out. Don't worry, I have a plan.”

She enters the maze, walking as far as the first intersection, where she stops. She rips a branch from the hedge, stripping it of twigs and leaves.

“Well then, Mr Strauss,” she says, “Left or right? What do you think?”

Episode 4 - Chapter 72

“So that was only shrubs when you came through?” Fiona asks.

“Indeed, m'lady,” Strauss confirms.

“How far is it to the other side?”

“We have no idea, m'lady, my entrance was in the middle, less than half a days walk from here.”

“How did you manage to enter in the middle.”

“We took advantage of an dimensional ladder that we borrowed from an acquaintance.”

“Could you try to make sense at least some of the time?”

“There will be a hole in the ground. In it, there is a ladder that will takes us elsewhere.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 71

“Oh well that's just bloody marvellous,” Fiona declares, staring at the hedge. “This place makes no sense whatsoever.”

Strauss remains silent, his head bowed.

“I know, I know,” Fiona continues, “This is the Weave, blah, blah, human imagination, blah blah, but come on, a bloody hedge maze that might be endless, who imagines that?”

“A thing does not have to actually been imagined to exist in the Weave.”

“What?”

“Ideas are quite capable of colliding on their own.”

“I'm not sure I understand what that means,” Fiona replies, “But do you know what? I don't care. Is there another way out of here.”

“Not that we are aware of, m'lady.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 70

I knew I was getting emotional, but Edward's comfort helped me pull myself together.

“No,” I said, “I'm sorry. But you have to understand that twelve hours ago I didn't know anything about your Weave and your Forest and your what-have-yous, didn't know about any of it. So to have you come here and accuse us of lying... well, that's not very nice.”

I was sure he smiled then, just for a moment. “Forgive me,” he said, “but I do not believe you are lying, and offer my sincerest apologies that I have given you that impression. No, you certainly believe what you have told me. But I cannot accept that it is true.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 69

“How did you feel about that?” Tom asks.

“I remember I wanted to help. I told they should give him all of my share of their love, and that I'd give him my love too.” Another memory suddenly pops in Robert's head. “That's right, that's why we went for a picnic. James had just come out of hospital again, and Mum said we should celebrate, do something nice, as a family. So we went for a picnic. This meadow was one of Dad's favourite places.”

“You're doing very well,” Tom tells him. “Now, I want you to look at the ground a few feet in front of you. Don't look at anything else. And keep remembering, tell me everything that comes to you. Can you do that?”

“I think so.”

“Good. Keep talking, and start walking forward.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 68

“How old were you?” The voice of Tom asks.

“I was nine.”

“What was it like, being nine? What was going on when you were nine? What about your brother?”

“If I was nine then James was six. Hey, that's right, I'm starting to remember. James got really sick that year. He had some kind of muscular disease, he was in and out of hospital all the time. I remember Mum and Dad being very worried about him. I remember Dad taking me for a walk one day. We sat by a river. Dad told me we had to make the most of the time we got with James. He said he and Mum might seem like they were giving him more love than me, but they loved me just as much.” Robert pauses. “He said they needed to make him stronger.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 67

“Mister what?” Tom asks. “Is that a song?”

“No,” Robert replies excitedly, “Mister Banjo, he was my dog.”

“Oh, that's good. Tell me about Mister Banjo and that bank.”

“I'm chasing after him. He's got a ball that he's supposed to give back so I can throw it again but he doesn't know the rules yet. I think he's just a puppy still.”

“That's good. Tell me more about Mister Banjo.”

“He was a birthday present.” Robert chuckles. “I wanted a bike, but Mum and Dad got me a puppy. They told me later there's nothing like a dog for teaching responsibility. They were worried I'd be disappointed but I loved him from the moment I saw him.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 66

“Yes!” exclaims Tom triumphantly. “Now we are rockin', dude.”

“We are?” Robert asks.

“Course we are. Tell me all about it.”

“I'm not sure I remember that much.”

“Sure you do. The human memory is an amazing thing - if you did it, the memory's in there somewhere.”

“Where do I start?”

“Look at the bank, dude, what is it that you remember about it. Close your eyes, really picture it.”

Robert feels like an idiot, but he does it, concentrating as hard as he can. His forehead furrows with the strain, until the image changes in his mind and the words pop out of his mouth.

“Mister Banjo!” he exclaims.

Episode 4 - Chapter 65

“I don't see how,” Robert says, even more perplexed.

“Because your Forest dude got you to draw on a happy memory to create this meadow. It's almost like he knew it was here, man.”

“But I don't remember this meadow, I've never been here.”

“Look at it, man, the meadow I mean, really look. Don't look at the cottage. But the rest of it, is there nothing that's familiar?”

Robert looks, examining every aspect of the meadow. “No,” he says, “I really don't... Hang on!”

“What?” Asks Tom. “What do you see?”

“Just over there, the way the bank curves, there's something about that.”

“What?”

“I think we might have had a picnic there when I was a kid.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 64

“Oh well that sounds easy,” Robert quips. “And just how do I do that?”

“When you came here,” Tom replies, “What happened? What did the Forest say to you?”

“He told me to close my eyes and imagine myself in a meadow.”

“Right. That dude knew what he was doing. People associate meadows with happiness. In the loosest way, of course, but they do. Now tell me, man, what else happens when you walk across the meadow. Not the cottage, but anything else that's weird.”

“I can hear children's laughter, and there's a breeze.”

“Boom!” replies Tom. “That's the payload. That's the way out.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 63

“Alright,” Robert says after a moments thought. “What do I do?”

“Okay,” says Tom, “So the trap is made up of two parts. There's the background, the meadow in this case, and the foreground, which in this case is the crum... um... the cottage. Yeah?”

“Right.” Robert pauses. “How does that help?”

“The foreground is made by whichever dude wants to trap you, but you supply the background. It's drawn directly from your subconscious.”

“And that's good because...?”

“Man, you're slow. You helped make the trap, you're a part of it, so you can change it.”

“And how do I do that?”

“By making the background become the foreground.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 62

“Well Tom,” Robert replies, “At least you didn't try and con me. How did you know I was here?”

“Believe it or not,” Tom's voice says, “I know a lot of things.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“I know that you came here looking for a girl. I know that you got here because the Forest reluctantly helped you. I know that the girl came here to find a bird. I know that she got here because this place runs through her. And I know that the bird came here because he was invited.”

“How do you know all that?”

“Does it matter, dude? Take a leap of faith. Let me help you.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 61

“How on earth do I walk toward that cottage without thinking I'm walking towards that cottage?” Robert is perplexed. “And where are you anyway? Why can't I see you?”

“I'm nearby,” the voice tells him. “It's best if I'm not seen with you yet. Like I said, stuff going down, major juju. But I can help you get out of here.”

“I appreciate the offer, but why should I trust you? I can't see you, I don't know who you are, you haven't even told me your name.”

“I can't give you a reason to trust me. Not a single one. But you wont get out of here alone. And you can call me Tom.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 60

My wife got a bit irate when Oak implied he didn't believe our account of events.

“Mister Oak!” she exclaimed, “what possible reason could there be for us to lie about the things that have happened? What could we ever hope to achieve? How would we even know what to make up. When I woke up this morning, the only thought in my head was that my son was coming for lunch and how lovely that would be.”

I could see she was on the brink of tears, so I reached over and put my hand on her knee. She placed her hand on mine and gently squeezed.

“I'm sorry to have upset you,” Oak told her, “but the nature of my role means that I can never accept an account without evidence to prove it so.”

Episode 4 - Chapter 59

Raven doesn't see a door at first glance, so he approaches an ageing security guard.

“Which way to the gents?” He barks at the man.

“Whut?” The guard replies.

“The gents? The toilet, loo, lavy, rest room, WC, public convenience,” Raven replies “A place where one can do one's business?”

“Back o' th' store.” The guard gestures vaguely.

Raven takes the quickest route he can through the aisles, but his progress is hampered by the shoppers, who seem ignorantly determined to get in his way. Finally he spots a door. Racing towards it, he repeats the word “Market” over and over.

He pushes the door but it doesn't budge. He pushes again, but the door is firmly locked.

Somebody walks into him, emitting a low moan as they do

“I'm terribly sorry...” he says, turning towards her, shocked to see her face is rotting away.

Episode 4 - Chapter 58

He turns the handle and steps through, the handle dissolving in his hand as he does. He's just walked through sliding doors into what looks like a very conventional supermarket. Before him are tables piled high with not quite fresh looking fruit and vegetables. Behind that, there are aisles full of tins and boxes. And all of it populated by very conventional looking shoppers.

“No, no,” he says, “This wont have what I want.” He turns to face the sliding doors that serve as the entrance. “Market,” he says to himself. “Market.”

He walks through, only to find himself stood outside the supermarket. He turns back, re-entering the building, looking for a more traditional door.