Winterfrost by Michelle Houts Read Free Book Online Page B

tasted better than it ever did packed in a school lunch. She wiped her mouth and stared at the surrounding woodland.
    Had she been here before? The stump told her that Far had been here and cut the tree that had once stood tall in this spot. Bettina squinted to see as far as her eyes would allow. The area didn’t seem familiar at all. Everything was still. Nothing moved in the distance, and Bettina stood to zip her backpack, trying to decide whether to go deeper into the forest or to turn back toward home. Perhaps Pia had returned just as mysteriously as she had disappeared. But Bettina knew that was just wishful thinking. Her chances of finding Pia were better out here in the forest than they were at home in the living room.
    Bettina’s search continued. She’d trudged only a few feet when, out of the corner of one eye, she caught a glimpse of something moving. She snapped her head in the direction of the something. Whatever it was had stopped. Perhaps it was a rabbit. Or her own imagination.
    She threw her pack over her shoulder and moved on. There it was again! This time she saw it for more than a second. It was small and lightning fast. And red. Red? What is red in the forest in wintertime? She darted toward the spot where she’d seen the flash of color and waited. Ahead, but not too far, she saw it again and she followed.
    The small red blur continued to disappear only to reappear a short distance ahead, seeming to dare Bettina to keep up. She followed as closely as she could but never managed to get a good look at whatever it was that was leading her. Bettina soon found that keeping an eye on the ground and her surroundings at the same time was nearly impossible.
    For half an hour, she hurried after the elusive blur. Every time she thought she’d lost it, a small glimmer of red would reappear. Eventually, Bettina became wary. Was this a trick? Did someone wish for her to become so disoriented in the forest that she would be lost for days?
    Bettina stopped running. Nothing was familiar. She stared at the ground around her and saw a mingled mess of footprints, all of them her own. How could she have been so stupid? She had followed the little red blur blindly, and now? Now she imagined her parents coming home to find not one but both of their daughters missing!
    Up ahead there was movement again. Bettina trailed it cautiously now, trying to find something familiar in her surroundings. She circled around a pine and found herself standing at the foot of the big crooked oak, the one with a million acorns near where Far and Mr. Pedersen had cut wood. How had she gotten back here when moments ago she was sure she was lost?
    Bettina took one step toward the tree when her left boot got caught beneath a huge gnarled root.
Thwack.
She hit the hard white ground, arms out to her sides and facedown in the frosty snow. Still flat out on her stomach, Bettina used a mittened hand to wipe the cold snow from her eyes.
    When she opened them, she quickly squeezed them shut again. It was a test; Bettina had to be sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her. She opened them slowly, drew in her breath, and forgot to let it out again.
    It was no trick. Before her stood the tiniest man she’d ever seen. He had a round face with a mischievous expression framed in dark brown curls and a full brown beard. He wore a brown coat and boots. Red stockings covered his knees. And on top of his head was a tall red pointed cap that drooped just a bit at the point. The flash of red!
    The little man gave Bettina a long, significant look, then darted under another root of the big crooked oak.

Bettina blinked her eyes one more time as she lay flat on her stomach in the snow. It was a nisse! She was absolutely certain. He looked just like the little people in books, only more . . . real. But where had he disappeared to? All that lay before her was a twisted old tree root.
    Pushing herself up on her elbows, Bettina used her teeth to remove one snow-soaked