n when Elena finally came home, an
door. And on the table sat a small bundle wrapped in oilcloth an
ur shift," M
re was no way to say it that would not sound like m
ena could see it in the grey skin under her eyes. "Listen to me. There is a woman who keeps a c
u told me to
what I t
moon
rgaret pressed her hand to her mouth, and in the quiet that foll
t. What is in
door before midnight. Go the long way, by the road. Do not leave it, do not step in
derst
u will
ord pulled tight, at the back of the only person who had ever fe
run," s
with relief, Elena thought, but with the terrible slackness
h road w
it was warm, as if something inside it were breathing. The red moon rode above the pines and thre
ge, she knew she w
eck, the way a room feels different when someone has stepped into it. The forest ran
d her most. There were
ut smaller than she meant
gave not
llow light showed where Hester's cottage sat in a hollow, p
not
lked, stiff-legged, with her heart pounding, until the pressure behind h
presence
out, no louder than a cart wheel on gravel. A growl. A gre
a st
re beside them, until a ring of eyes had drawn closed around her on the empty road, and
e heard herself say. It was the
er stood so high at the shoulder, or carried that thin ribbon of drool from a m
gri
promised her aunt
nt full of fe
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