Slowly, with fingers that trailed over the short-shorn face of the hedges, I wandered into the depths of the maze. With only the shadows for company, I turned right at every crossroads. I’d find the middle that way, right? There could only be so many turns after all.
I shouldn’t have bothered. There were so many dead-ends and so much backtracking that I only ended up confusing myself more than I would have been if I’d just picked a direction at random.
The dawn chorus ended, or faded into the forest entirely, giving way to the faint murmuring of flowing water.
I followed the gentle sound, praying that when I did finally find the centre of the maze…that I’d be able to make it back out again before I starved or something. My father would be pissed if his only heir died of hypothermia a
