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.The faerie giggled and circled her finger at Maddy.“Buzzzzz,” she said.“Don’t you dare!” said Maddy.She lifted her hands up and clapped them hard.“Or else!”The faerie gave an indignant squeak, her face clouded with anger.She took off into the trees above, her friends racing to join her.Sparks rained down, and the air filled with the smell of singed hair.Maddy brushed her hands over her head to feel blackened strands break and fall away from her fingers.“Oh, Maddy, why did you scare them off?” asked Roisin.“They won’t come back now.”“I didn’t fancy getting barbecued by your little friends, that’s why,” said Maddy.“Hey, one of them is coming back,” said Danny.“C’mere, girl—I won’t hurt you.”The same little faerie who had tried to set light to Maddy’s nose fluttered down in front of Danny.“I’d watch her if I were you.” Maddy began, but it was too late.The faerie gripped one of Danny’s fingers.Her body glowed white, and then the light pulsed up Danny’s arm.“Ow, that really hurts!” he cried.The little faerie simply stuck her tongue out and flew up into the trees.Maddy laughed.It was good to see Danny on the receiving end for once.She glanced down at the leash wrapped tightly around her fist and looked for George, whom she had forgotten in all the excitement.She really shouldn’t have let him loose, but she was surprised to see him walking close behind her, his nose almost touching her heel.She was relieved that the grizzled old terrier had decided to behave himself.She didn’t need him chasing off after animals in here—she had no idea if she would get him back.A quick movement in the darkness beneath the trees caught her eye.It wasn’t much, a flicker of a lighter shadow, but it was enough.Something else was walking with them.She peered harder into the trees and saw what the birds and faeries had stopped her from seeing before.Long, dark shapes glided close to the ground, keeping pace with them as they walked along the path.Now and then, huge green eyes gleamed before the animal turned its head away and loped on.She could see them moving on either side of the path, and she realized they were surrounded.George hadn’t been behaving—he had caught the scent of wolves.Maddy watched as the little terrier carefully avoided looking to the left or right.He stooped lower and lower until he was practically crawling on his belly.When Maddy picked him up and hugged him close, he tucked his face into her armpit.She wanted to warn Danny and Roisin, but she was terrified to make a noise or do anything to break the tension.It was obvious the wolves knew they were there, but Maddy kept her eyes ahead and hoped that if she ignored them, they would leave them alone.Roisin was still giggling over the faeries while Danny walked ahead of them all in a huff, his pride injured.But after a while the silence pressing in around them became too obvious.Maddy saw Roisin look around, a frown on her face.When she spotted the wolves, she drew in a breath to scream, but Maddy grabbed her arm from behind.Danny looked back at them.“What’s wrong now?” he said.Just then a wolf stepped into a patch of light and looked straight at Danny, its tongue lolling from its mouth.Danny looked back at Maddy, his own mouth opening in a panicked O, but she hurried past him, dragging Roisin with her.“Don’t say anything, don’t look at them, don’t wind them up,” she whispered as she overtook him.“Just keep walking.”Now Maddy realized how quiet the forest was.There was no trill of songbirds, no clicks of magpies, no harsh cries of crows.The only sound was their breathing and the occasional thump of snow sliding from an overladen branch.The wolves were silent and loped by the path, their huge paws stepping lightly over the carpet of leaf mold and pine needles.Maddy desperately searched the gloom for help, for someone, for a shack with a door that could be locked, anything.But there was no other sign of life beneath the dripping trees.Only the dark, shaggy shapes that drifted like smoke, keeping time with their footsteps.“Why are they not attacking us?” whispered Danny as his eyes darted from side to side.“I don’t know,” said Maddy.“Maybe they want us to run?”“Why?”“They like playing with their food?”“Are they herding us?” asked Roisin.“They haven’t made us go anywhere yet.They’re just following,” said Danny.“It’s Little Red Riding Hood,” said Roisin.“What are you on about?” said Danny.“Little Red Riding Hood,” said Roisin.“It’s obvious.The wolf got her because she was a bad girl and left the path.We’re staying on it so they can’t attack us.”“Rubbish,” said Danny.“Have you got a better idea about what’s going on?” asked Maddy.“No, but I mean, they look like normal wolves,” said Danny.“Unless someone read them the book, they don’t know anything about Little Red Riding Hood.Which means, if they are hunting us, staying on the path isn’t going to help.I’m climbing a tree.You should always climb trees if you think a wild animal is going to attack you.”“No, don’t!” squeaked Roisin.“Step off the path and they’ll get you.You have to stick to the rules.The stag said what we know would guide us.”“You two can do what you like,” said Danny.“But I’m not sticking around to become a main course.”Before either Maddy or Roisin could stop him, Danny stepped off the path toward the nearest tree.Instantly a shaggy gray wolf burst from the undergrowth and with a snarl leaped at him.Danny went down in a tangle of limbs.“Help, help,” he screamed.“Get him off me!” He beat at the wolf’s head as the animal bit into his arm and tried to drag him deeper into the undergrowth.Roisin stood frozen, but Maddy dropped George on the path and rushed to help Danny [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]