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Authors: Sue Bentley

BOOK: A Forest Charm

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Cassie's mom called to her as she approached. “Everything all right, sweetie?

“Fine. We found the package,” Cassie replied, smiling.

“Good job,” her mom said warmly.

Mr. Ronson frowned at Erin. “All the other kids got back a long time ago. What happened? I expected better from you, Erin.”

Erin hung her head. “I'm sorry . . . I didn't . . .” she began hesitantly.

Cassie felt sorry for her. It couldn't be much fun having such a strict dad. “It was my fault. I forgot to put any chalk marks on the trees, so we got lost,” she interrupted quickly. “Erin was great, though. We were wandering around forever, but she somehow found the way back here.”

Mrs. Ronson put her arm around her daughter. “Did you? Good job, Erin.”

Erin threw Cassie a grateful look and gave her a rather shaky smile as she handed the flint and striker to her dad. “Well, at least we can get the fire started now. Better late than never, I guess,” Mr. Ronson sighed.

“That was a good thing to do. You are a kind human, Cassie,” Storm woofed.

“Thanks, Storm. But I think even Erin deserves to be rescued from such a bossy dad!” she whispered to him, smiling.

Cassie and Storm went to see how their tent was coming along. It had a square frame made of branches lashed together. More branches leaning against it formed a slanting, open-fronted shelter. Inside it, a thick layer of dried leaves made a soft surface to sleep on.

“It looks quite cozy in there now, doesn't it?” Cassie said.

Storm seemed to agree. He immediately bounded into the shelter and began nosing around. Leaves flew in all directions as he scuffed them up with his front paws.

“Careful. Someone might notice all this stuff being stirred up by itself,” Cassie gently reminded him.

Storm put his head to one side, grinning apologetically. “I am sorry, Cassie. There are so many interesting smells here. I am enjoying exploring and rooting into everything.”

“Well, that's what puppies do, don't they?” Cassie said fondly.

Storm nodded happily and suddenly dashed off toward an interesting-looking tree stump.

Cassie hid a grin as she watched him. She felt a surge of affection for her cute, mischievous friend.

Later, Cassie secretly shared her meal of canned beans and sausages with him. The light began to fade as they were clearing away and the moon rose over the trees. An owl hooted as Cassie was spreading out her sleeping bag.

Erin came over to put hers next to Cassie. “Thanks for what you said to my dad about it being your fault that we got lost,” she said quietly as they both got ready for bed.

“That's okay,” Cassie said, pleasantly surprised. “Good night, Erin.”

“G'night, Cassie. Sweet dreams,” Erin said sleepily.

Cassie snuggled down with Storm's little warm body next to her. The air was soon filled with soft snores, but she lay awake, enjoying looking out of the open-fronted shelter. The sky was deep purple and blazing with silver stars, like a million tiny diamonds. She wondered whether Storm could see the same stars in his own world.

Cassie felt a deep glow of happiness. “I love having you here. I hope that you can stay with me forever,” she whispered to him.

Storm twisted his head to look at her, his midnight blue eyes glowing brightly in the moonlight. “That is not possible. One day I must go back to my home world to face Shadow and lead the Moon-claw pack. Do you understand that, Cassie?” he woofed, his little, square, white face serious.

Cassie nodded sadly but she didn't want to think about that now. This moment was just perfect as it was. She kissed the top of Storm's fluffy, white head. “Sweet dreams,” she yawned as she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter
* SEVEN *

It was cold and misty when Cassie woke the following morning. No one else was awake. She lay snuggled up inside her sleeping bag for a while longer, cuddling Storm's warm, stocky, little body.

“This is nice and cozy, isn't it?” she whispered, stroking his fluffy fur.

Storm looked up at her and she saw his midnight blue eyes darken with sadness. “Yes. It is like being curled up in a safe den with . . . with . . .” he woofed and then trailed off into a deep sigh.

He's thinking of his mother and the Moon-claw pack in his own world
, Cassie realized with a pang.

There must be something she could do to help him feel better. “I know! How about an early morning walk?” she suggested.

Storm pricked his ears, and his face brightened a little. “I would like that!” He sprang out of the sleeping bag and wagged his stumpy, white tail.

The others were starting to wake up now. Cassie quickly dressed and pulled on her boots. “I'll grab some water for washing,” she called, picking up a bucket.

As she and Storm went off in the direction of the nearby stream, hazy bars of sunlight pushed through the mist hanging over the trees. There was a smoky smell of frosty autumn leaves in the air.

Storm tore around as usual, scrabbling under fallen logs and sniffing at clumps of grass. He ran toward Cassie with a broken branch in his mouth and dropped it at her feet. Crouching down on to his front paws, he barked hopefully.

Cassie laughed and threw the branch for him to fetch. With a happy bark, Storm ran after it. He seemed to be feeling much happier than when he woke upâjust as Cassie hoped he would.

She swung her arms as she walked, feeling perfectly happy. At the stream, she kneeled down to fill the bucket from a spring gushing down over some rocks. Storm was splashing around in the shallows a few feet away.

He jumped out onto the bank and came lolloping up to Cassie. His white fur stuck up in little wet peaks and there was a mischievous expression on his dripping face.

“Don't you dareâ” Cassie began, but it was too late.

Storm's whole body shivered from head to foot as he shook himself. A shower of droplets splashed all over Cassie.

“Storm! You little terror! You did that on purpose!” she scolded laughingly. “It's a good thing I'm wearing waterproof clothes.”

Storm beamed and stood up on his short back legs to paw at her pants. His sharp puppy teeth were very white against his little black lips.

As they made their way back to camp, the delicious smell of frying bacon floated toward them.

“I like human food,” Storm yapped hungrily.

Cassie's mouth watered, too. Why did food always smell so much better outdoors?

“Hello, sweetie. You're an early bird this morning,” Mrs. Yorke said as she turned bacon in the pan.

Mr. Yorke was just opening a can of tomatoes.

“Hiya, parents,” Cassie sang out as she put down the bucket of water. Storm's cheerfulness was infectious. “I was wide awake, so I thought I'd do something useful.”

Her dad goggled his eyes. “Quick, someone, call the police! Someone's stolen our Cassie and swopped her for this helpful, strangely cheerful girl!” he joked.

“Da-ad!” Cassie pretended to swipe him on the head.

She wished she could tell them that the reason why she was so happy was sitting there invisibly, wagging his little white tail. Cassie would have loved to see the looks on their faces, but she knew that she would never give away Storm's secret.

That afternoon there were team games. The most fun was when each person took turns being blindfolded, and then their teammates talked them through an obstacle course.

“I will make myself glow very brightly and you will be able to see me through the band around your eyes. You can just follow me,” Storm woofed, eager to take part.

“No. That would be cheating. I have to do this myself, but thanks, anyway,” Cassie told him.

So instead, Storm joined in by padding around on tiptoe behind the person wearing the blindfold. Cassie laughed so much that others began to laugh, too, and even Erin joined in.

“I didn't think this game was
that
funny!” Erin said, giggling and wiping her eyes.

“It's not!” Cassie spluttered.

Later there was more firewood to collect and then a short talk about identifying and collecting wild food. Time passed quickly for Cassie and soon, after dinner, everyone sat around in a circle to do a task together.

“You can make everything you need from the materials around you. We're going to make some cord from a plant you can find growing almost anywhere,” the instructor said, producing a bundle of green stems.

“Ouch! Stinging nettles!” Cassie said nervously.

Storm twitched one ear. After having rushed around all day, he was lying next to her with his nose resting on his paws.

“Hold your nettle like this,” said the instructor, holding the stalks at an angle. “Now, push firmly upward to strip off the leaves. Try it. You won't get stung if you do it like this.”

“It would be much easier if we all wore gloves,” Mr. Yorke joked.

Cassie grinned at him.

“Gloves?” Mr. Ronson scoffed, obviously taking her dad seriously. “I suppose you'll want a cushion to sit on next! Come on, man. Rise to the challenge!” He pushed up his sweatshirt sleeves, flexed his bulging muscles, and then began rubbing his palms together noisily.

As her dad's face reddened, Cassie tingled with embarrassment on his behalf.

She couldn't stand the way Erin's dad always had to show off.

“Me first!” she shouted on impulse. Gritting her teeth, she leaned forward and grabbed a big, hairy nettle, exactly as the instructor had shown her. It didn't sting at all. She ran her hands upward toward the top and the leaves fell off on to the grass.

“Ta-da!” Cassie crowed, waving the stripped stem in the air.

Mr. Ronson looked at her in surprise. “Not bad,” he said.

Coming from him, that was praise indeed
, Cassie thought.

As everyone got to work stripping nettles, the instructor showed Cassie the next stages in making cord.

Cassie felt a tiny tingle down her spine. Next to her, little gold sparks were starting to glisten in Storm's white fur.