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