A Forest Charm (6 page)

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Authors: Sue Bentley

BOOK: A Forest Charm
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She suddenly found herself smoothing, flattening, rolling, and twisting, her nimble fingers flying. In half a minute, she had her first ever piece of strong, green cord. “Storm. I can do this by myself,” she scolded gently.
Storm nodded. The sparks in his fur went out. He gave a contented sigh and began dozing as Cassie carried on making nettle cord by herself.
“Are you sure you haven't done this before? You're a natural,” the instructor said as the pile of cord in front of her grew.
“I've always loved making things. I guess it's some consolation for being terrible at sports and stuff,” Cassie said modestly.
The instructor smiled. “A good team needs ‘doers' and ‘makers.' It's all about sharing skills.”
Cassie hadn't thought of it like that before. She felt a stir of pride. Perhaps being part of a team was something she could be good at after all.
On the other side of the circle, Erin grinned encouragingly.
Chapter
* EIGHT *
Later that evening, the instructors left for the cabin, intending to return early the following morning.
“You should all be fine by yourselves for a few hours. But we're not far away and we'll leave you a cell phone in case of emergencies,” one of them said.
“I'll hold on to that phone,” Mr. Ronson said promptly, tucking it into his pocket.
It was another clear night. Trees cast long shadows in the moonlight as the Blues, Greens, and Reds prepared for bed.
Cassie settled down with Storm. “It's Sunday tomorrow. We go home after lunch. You're going to love it there,” she told him.
Storm gave a tiny woof and yawned sleepily. He turned around and around in circles before settling comfortably with his head resting beneath Cassie's chin.
Cassie said her good nights to everyone and instantly fell asleep.
 
She woke suddenly a few hours later, in the dark gray light of dawn. There was a loud drumming noise all around her. At first Cassie couldn't understand what the noise was and then a cold raindrop splashed onto her nose.
She crawled to the open front of the shelter and peered out. Rain was coming down in torrents through the trees. In the semi-darkness, she could just see wriggly lines of water trickling past the shelter. A huge puddle glistened across what had been grass the night before and reached almost to the Greens' tent.
Storm stood up and shook himself.
Lifting his nose, he sniffed the air. “There is too much water. We could be in danger,” he yapped, flattening his ears.
“You mean floods? I'd better wake everyone up!” Cassie leaped up and scrambled into her clothes. She leaned over to shake Erin, who was nearest, and then woke both sets of parents. “Quick! There's water everywhere!” she told them.
“It's just a bit of rain, for goodness' sake.” Mr. Ronson's voice was muffled from deep within his sleeping bag. “Stop fussing and go back to sleep.”
Storm lifted his lip in a soft growl and danced sideways, barking in annoyance. Cassie felt like doing the same thing.
“No! We have to move. Storm says so!” she burst out, hardly realizing what she'd said. Luckily, no one seemed to have heard her properly.
“What's that about a storm, Cass?” her dad asked sleepily, opening one eye. His hair was all sticking up. “Are you sure you didn't just have a bad dream?”
“I'm not imagining this. Please, Dad, just take a look outside,” Cassie said desperately.
“Okay. Anything for a bit of peace,” Mr. Yorke groaned.
Suddenly, Erin cried out. “There's water coming in. Ugh! My sleeping bag's getting soaked!”
Mr. Yorke sat bolt upright. “Yikes! Cassie's right. If we don't move soon, we'll be sitting in the middle of a lake! Look, the Greens and Blues are already getting up!”
After that, there was a mad scramble to get dressed into raincoats and roll up the sleeping bags. Cassie picked Storm up and cradled him in her arms, keeping him dry beneath her baggy anorak.
As they all splashed across to join up with the other families, the instructors' cell phone rang. Mr. Ronson answered it.
Cassie and Erin were closest to him and both heard some of what he said. “No, there's no need for you to do that. It's not that bad here. Yes, I'm absolutely certain. We can make it back by ourselves,” Mr. Ronson said confidently. “Okay. I'll explain to the others. No problem. Leave it to me.”
Cassie frowned in puzzlement. Something didn't seem quite right about the conversation. “I wonder what's going on. What isn't there any need for the instructors to do?” she whispered to Storm.
Mr. Ronson began speaking. “We've been told to make our way back to the cabin. There's a short cut across a bridge, just over that ridge. I went and checked it out yesterday afternoon,” he explained.
“That seems a roundabout way to go, when we could go via the track we came in on,” Mr. Yorke commented.
Mr. Ronson shrugged. “That may be. But this is the
Wild Wood Experiences
way and the sooner we get moving, the sooner we'll be back. Hurry up now; this way, everyone,” he said, waving one arm in a big arc.
“He'll be shouting ‘Wagons roll!' in a minute, like in those awful old cowboy films!” Cassie grumbled.
Her dad laughed. “Remind me to buy him a sheriff's badge sometime.”
Cassie tramped along, feeling happy that they were all safe, despite the rain dripping from her anorak hood. Storm's little body was warm against her chest and she could smell his faint, clean puppy scent. “Are you okay in there?” she whispered, looking down at him.
Storm reached up and licked her chin. “I am fine.”
The rain slowed and then stopped as they trudged along. After about ten minutes, they reached the top of the ridge. The ground sloped steeply downward on the other side. At the bottom, Cassie could see the ditch with the wooden footbridge over it.
Suddenly, she heard fierce growling and barking through the trees. Cassie felt Storm stiffen and begin to tremble all over. “What's wrong?” she asked softly.
“I think Shadow is close. He will have used his magic to make any dogs that are nearby into my enemies. Now he has set them on to me,” Storm whimpered softly, rolling his eyes in terror.
“Those dogs do sound like they're getting closer,” Cassie said worriedly. “How will I be able to tell if they're coming for you?”
Storm whimpered and Cassie could feel his heart beating wildly. “They will have fierce, pale eyes and extra-long teeth.”
The sound of growling was even louder. Cassie felt a leap of fear. Storm was in terrible danger! She racked her brains as she tried to think of some way of protecting the tiny puppy.
A memory stirred within her. In one of her favorite books, Jilly Atkins had been tracked by a hungry bear and had escaped by rubbing something very nasty all over herself to disguise her scent.
“That's it!” Cassie burst out. Without a second thought, she pretended to lose her balance and fall over. “Oh,” she cried as she skidded for real and both legs shot from beneath her.
She landed on her backside with a teeth-rattling jolt. Gathering speed, Cassie went sliding downward in a slippery, muddy avalanche of half-rotten leaves.
Chapter
* NINE *
Taking care to cradle Storm in both hands, Cassie twisted sideways and began rolling over and over down the slope. She wanted to make sure that she was covered in smelly stuff from head to foot.
As Cassie tumbled to the bottom, she found herself heading toward a big clump of brambles, but couldn't put out her hands to stop herself. Sharp thorns tore at her clothes and made deep scratches in her skin, but Cassie hardly noticed them.
Tearing herself free, she scrambled to her feet. A strong earthy smell rose up around her.
“Perfect! No enemy dogs will be able to smell you through this stuff.
“Thank you, Cassie,” Storm whined softly. “That was very brave. You could have been badly hurt.”
“I couldn't bear anything to happen to you,” Cassie said. “Oh,” she gasped as the scratches started throbbing now that the excitement was over.
“You
are
hurt! I will make you better,” Storm yapped.
Cassie felt a familiar prickling down her spine as Storm huffed out a glittery puppy breath. The softly gleaming cloud floated into the air and then sprinkled down onto Cassie like Christmas glitter. As the golden dust dissolved into her muddy clothes, she felt the soreness fading and all the rips and tears mended themselves instantly.
“Thanks, Storm,” she said, stroking his little warm ears. “I think you'd better stay inside my anorak until we're completely sure that those fierce dogs have gone.”
The fear was starting to fade from Storm's deep blue eyes, but he nodded. “I think so, too.”
“Cassie!” her mom shouted in a panicky voice, hurtling down the slope ahead of the others. “Are you hurt?”
“No. I'm just a bit shaken up,” Cassie replied.
“Thank goodness for that. I can't believe you escaped without even a scratch or the tiniest rip in your clothes. You're a very lucky girl!”
“I know,” Cassie said.
I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world—I've got Storm for a friend
, she thought.
Cassie's mom wrinkled her nose. “But just look at the state of you! Phew! You smell awful!”
“I don't mind,” Cassie said happily.
“You're going to need a shower when we get back to the cabin,” her dad said when he saw her. “You're so clumsy! Falling down that slope. It's the sort of thing I usually do!” he said.

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