They had adventured into the forest
even after repeated admonitions from the elders to stay within the
confines of the village.
The three youngsters scampered in and
out of the trees, never noticing the movement of the sun, nor the
darkness creeping from the shadows.
Ella ducked under a particularly low
limb, hunkering down between two gnarly roots protruding from the
ground beneath the large oak. Giggling quietly to herself she peeped
out of her hiding spot, trying to spot the others looking for her.
Settling down, she snuggled her heavy shawl around her and pulled a
piece of her mother's good bread from her pocket. Taking a big bite
she closed her eyes and leaned against the sturdy tree trunk.
Savoring the yeasty goodness, she wondered idly where the others
were. Shouldn't they have started calling for her now? Those two
couldn't lace their own shoes without her. Silly boys. Still, playing
with them kept her from being too lonely.
Moving to the new village had been hard
on Ella. She was the only girl. Quite an odd feeling actually. Boys
tended to shy away from her. Like she had some sort of plague. Well,
most boys. The red headed twins actually treated her like she was one
of them. They were happy to include her in their adventures. Maybe
because they were younger. Maybe just because the other boys all
thought they were odd too.
Truth be told, they were a bit odd.
They had a secret language that only the two of them understood. They
tried to teach it to Ella but after several failed attempts they
declared her a hopeless case and refused any more lessons.
Mirror images of each other, Tobias had
three freckles on his left cheek, Nathaniel had three on his right.
Tobias was left handed, Nathaniel right handed. Basically whatever
Tobias did to the left, Nathaniel did to the right. The biggest
difference between them was that Tobias never talked to anyone except
Nathaniel while Nathaniel talked to everyone. All the time. Non stop.
He actually had quite a vocabulary for a ten year old.
Settling in, Ella giggled thinking of
those silly boys wandering around. She was well hidden. No way those
boys could find her. Closing her eyes for just a moment, Ella munched
her mother's good bread. Maybe she would just close her eyes for a
minute. Surely she would hear the boys tromping through the leaves
well before they found her. She would have plenty of time to slip
past them and make it back to the meadow first.
With a start, Ella opened her eyes,
surprised to find that dusk had fallen while she hid behind the tree.
Black shadows reached out toward her from the underbrush. She stood
up, brushing leaves from her skirt. Stepping back around the tree she
looked for the twins. Silly boys were gone. They must have gotten
tired of looking for her and gone home. Trudging in and out of the
trees she headed for the meadow.
A cold sharp wind blew through the
forest, whistling through the trees, rustling the leaves. Ella wasn't
truly afraid of the dark but all of the tales she had heard whispered
about the forest suddenly filled her mind. She started walking
faster, sure that she would find the edge of the forest soon. It had
to be right here. She hadn't gone very far into the forest.
All of a sudden the little bits of
light straggling through the forest canopy faded. It became pitch
black. Ella bit back a sharp cry as she fell over a root. Gazing
around her she realized she couldn't see a thing. No light, nothing.
She couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Finally understanding
that she was alone in the forest at night she began to cry. Papa
always told her that big strong girls of twelve don't cry. They pick
themselves up and keep going. All she could imagine was all the night
creatures that lived in the woods. The stories she had heard kept
repeating in her brain, stories of wolves and bears. Of witches. Of
huge scary monsters that eat little children and pick their teeth
with the bones.
Standing up, Ella began to reach around
her, feeling her way. A teeny step, then two. Another step. Another.
Her hand brushed against rough bark. Another large tree blocked her
way. Ella knew she was well and truly lost. She would have to spend
the night in the forest. Her father would surely come looking for her
when she didn't come in for dinner. Maybe the twins had already made
it home and the village men were already lighting torches to start
searching. It would be worth any punishment to see them coming
through the trees.
Scooting between two large tree roots,
she pulled her shawl around her, tucking her feet up under her skirt.
Trying to stifle her tears, she wished with all her might she had
never adventured into the woods.
She huddled against the rough bark of
the tree, struggling to see into the blackness that surrounded her.
The night had come alive all around her. She could hear rustling in
the leaves, the chirp of crickets, the croak of frogs. Off in the
distance she heard a snort, a snuffling of sorts. Her mind
immediately conjured up pictures of a wild animal with great huge
teeth, all the better to munch on her bones.
Squeezing herself into the tiniest ball
she could manage she pulled her shawl over her head and shut her eyes
tightly. Eventually she cried herself to sleep, exhaustion and fear
finally wearing her out.
She never saw the glow of red eyes
peering at her from the darkness. She never felt the hot breath on
her skin as the creature peered at her face. She never moved when the
creature slipped the shawl off her head.
The creature hunkered down in front of
the human child, wondering at the delicate skin, the pink lips and
dark hair falling in curls from underneath the shawl. Such an odd
little thing. The creature lifted a black tipped claw to trace the
drying track of tears down Ella's face. Licking the moisture the
creature was startled at the salty taste. What manner of being leaked
salt water from their eyes? Curiosity filled the creature. Perhaps he
would keep this one.
A cry in the distance brought the
creature to it's feet. Peering through the trees, it could make out
the flicker of torches. More humans, adults this time.
With a slight snarl, he curled his lips
back, revealing sharp dagger like teeth. Too many humans in his
forest. Taking one more look at the child, he sliced a bit of hair
from under the shawl and tucked it away. He would let this one go.
For now.
A single bound and he was up into the
tree. Hidden from sight he could track the humans as they thrashed
around his forest.
The cries got louder and the light from
the torches brighter.
Ella shifted, whimpering in her sleep.
“Papa. Papa.” Her eyes flew open as she heard her name, “Ella.
Ella. Where are you?”
Spring up off the cold ground, she
shouted, “Here I am Papa, Here I am!”
