In Darkling Wood by Emma Carroll Read Free Book Online

Then she slaps the table. ‘Not Darkling Wood? Are you staying there? Really ?’
    She says it so sharply the students in front of us turn and stare. I squirm in my seat.
    ‘Yes, but only for a bit,’ I say.
    ‘So your grandmother’s the one who wants to cut down the wood?’
    ‘She says she has to. The trees are growing too close to the house and it’s unsafe.’
    Ella pulls a face and goes quiet. I don’t think she believes me. When the lesson ends, she doesn’t wait for me, either. She’s been told to be my class buddy, but she clearly doesn’t want to be my friend.

9
    The after-school bus drops me in the village square. Walking the steep hill home, I get my phone out. There are no messages from Mum or Lexie, but that single bar of reception makes me call them both because I’m dying to talk to someone from home. When neither of them answers my eyes fill up, although I’d probably cry if they’d answered too; it’s been that sort of day.
    Reaching the woods, I walk slowly, kicking up leaves. The air smells muddy and damp. All I hear now is the wind in the treetops. It’s a whooshing, roaring sound like you get inside a seashell, even when you’re a million miles from the sea.
    Everything is far away, that’s the problem. I’ve never gone this long without Mum or Theo. All day they’ve kept popping into my head. I’d be doing fractions or thinking Max had a nice smile or wondering why Ella was in a sulk, and then – ouch – I’d remember: I’mhere – they’re there. Though it’s a different sort of hurt from when Dad left for Devon, because then he chose to go.
    Out of the gloom, something red comes towards me. It’s Flo. I’m stupidly pleased.
    ‘You got here quick!’ I say, grinning. ‘D’you catch a different school bus or something?’
    ‘Stop!’ she cries. ‘Don’t come any closer!’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Stay where you are! Don’t move!’
    Her hands are in the air, palms facing me. She looks panicked. I feel the grin freezing on my face.
    ‘Now,’ she says, taking a deep breath. ‘Very slowly take a step back.’
    ‘But …’
    ‘Just do it, Alice!’
    ‘All right! Keep your hair on!’
    I do as I’m told.
    ‘Now take another step, and another, until you’re back by that tree.’ She points to an old twisted trunk. Once I’m stood by it, she comes over – not directly, but in a roundabout way like she’s avoiding a certain spot.
    ‘It’s a good job you didn’t step inside the ring!’ she says, pink-cheeked and flustered. ‘That almost went horribly wrong!’
    I’ve not the foggiest what she’s on about.
    ‘The fairy ring,’ she says. ‘Didn’t you see it?’
    She’s pointing to the place where, moments ago, I’d been about to step. All I see is dead leaves. Nothing odd in that. The entire floor of this wood is covered in the same carpet of reds and yellows and browns.
    ‘It’s late in the season, but you can see where mushrooms were,’ she says. ‘Look. Here. And here.’
    She traces a circle shape with her finger. I don’t know about the fairy part but there’s certainly some stubby grey things poking up through the leaves.
    ‘Go on then, what would’ve happened if I’d stepped into the fairy ring?’ I ask.
    I’m thinking thunder. Lightning. Or nothing at all. It’s very hard to keep a straight face, especially as Flo looks so serious.
    ‘You’d become invisible,’ she says. ‘Or the fairies would make you dance until you died.’
    ‘Right, of course .’ This is nuts. Then she points at my bobble hat, which I’m wearing pulled right down over my ears.
    ‘But if you’d worn your hat inside out, it would’ve protected you.’
    She’s back on that again.
    ‘Wow. That’s … um … helpful to know, thanks,’ I say.
    Irritably she stuffs her hands in her pockets. ‘I wish you’d believe me. This is terribly important, you know.’
    ‘Sorry.’
    I don’t want to upset her. The thing is I’m glad Flo’s here. She’s, I don’t