The Christmas of Adventure

©2015 June E.

Philip, Dinah, Jack and Lucy-Ann are excited at the prospect of spending their first Christmas together, but by Christmas Eve all their plans lie in ruins. Things get even worse when a severe snowstorm brings the country to a standstill and leaves Bill snowbound, hundreds of miles away. Forced to fend for themselves in Bill's remote moorland cottage, rumours abound of a strange and terrifying creature lurking in the woods nearby... and with a ruthless thief on the loose, striking at night and stealing birds from the local Sanctuary, the scene is set for a frightening and perilous adventure. Can they stop the thief before it's too late? Or will Kiki be the robber's next victim?

Chapter 28: 'Anyone who tried would be cut to shreds!'

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The four relieved children scurried away from Drear Cottage. It was a cold winter afternoon, but the wind was light and the sky was clear.

'It's still ages till teatime,' said Jack. 'Let's not go straight home... we could explore this part of Moorland wood instead. We haven't explored here yet, and it's lovely now the sun has come out.'

Dinah and Lucy-Ann looked doubtful, but Philip agreed readily.

'There's hours of daylight left – surely there's no harm in going in a little way,' he said.

'But we've only got light jackets on rather than our thick coats,' said Dinah. 'We'll freeze if we're out too long.'

'You girls can go straight back to the cottage if you like,' said Philip in a no-nonsense tone. 'Jack and I can explore the woods without you.'

Dinah frowned at Philip; she hated it when he tried to leave her out of things.

'No, we'll come too,' she said quickly, giving a rather surprised Lucy-Ann no time to protest.

So instead of heading up the lane for the short walk home, the four children made their way towards the fir trees behind Drear Cottage, beyond which lay the vast expanse of Moorland wood. It really was very pleasant to tramp through the snow on that sunny afternoon. Beyond the fir trees the children found themselves in a pretty forest of ancient, broad canopied oaks, and a haphazard mixture of birch, beech and alder. Shafts of sunlight broke through the trees and danced on the snow-fringed branches. As they glinted in the sunlight, the snowy branches looked like they were sprinkled with tiny diamonds. It was hard to imagine anything frightening or sinister happening in such a beautiful, peaceful place.

The children chatted happily as they walked along.

'Let's all have a Christmas hot chocolate when we get back,' said Dinah, shivering a little in her light jacket.

'Ooh yes,' said Jack approvingly. 'Hot chocolate with a sprinkling of cinnamon, and topped with marshmallows – lovely!'

Everyone grinned and nodded eagerly, their mouths watering at the thought of the delicious hot drink.

'At last it's starting to feel a little like a school holiday,' said Lucy-Ann happily. 'And I don't feel so scared or anxious now that I know Bill is close by.'

As Lucy-Ann spoke, the sun disappeared behind an ominous grey cloud, and in an instant the wood appeared to be a darker, more forbidding place. Looking back, Lucy-Ann saw that the village lane was no longer visible, and Drear Cottage was far out of sight. Suddenly a gust of icy wind blew up, stinging the children's exposed cheeks and piercing through their thin jackets. For some reason Lucy-Ann felt a lurch of fear in the pit of her stomach. Her happy mood had vanished, almost as if it had been snatched up and carried off by the icy blast.

Jack's voice rang out loudly.

'Look! Footprints! Someone has been here already!'

'Well spotted, Jack!' said Philip. Then he laughed. 'I say Lucy-Ann, you nearly jumped out of your skin just then when Jack called out.'

'I think they belong to an adult...' said Jack slowly, examining the footsteps carefully. 'Each step is quite far apart, and the snow is deeply indented, so I say they belong to a tall person – and a heavy one.'

'I don't like it... I think we should go home now,' said Lucy-Ann weakly.

'Oh why do girls always want to go home, just when things are getting interesting!' said Philip in an exasperated voice.

'I don't want to go home,' said Dinah hastily, for she could not bear to look like a coward in front of the boys. 'I vote we follow the trail of footprints, at least for a little further. Come on, Lucy-Ann. Take my arm and we'll stick close together – you'll be fine.'

For the second time that afternoon, poor Lucy-Ann found herself reluctantly going along with the others. Indeed, she had little choice, for she could hardly turn back alone and risk getting lost. Keeping a firm grip on Dinah's arm, she trudged along, all the time hoping that the others would lose interest and decide to go home. Up ahead she could see what appeared to be a dense line of blackthorn trees, before which towered an immense, ancient oak. The oak tree's branches were enormous, arching over the blackthorn and stretching out in all directions to create a vast canopy.

The trail of footprints led the children to the area of blackthorn that was under the vast oak canopy. They could now see that the blackthorn trees were growing very close together, and formed a dense wall.

'It's... it's not possible!' exclaimed Jack, standing before the wall of blackthorn and staring open-mouthed at the ground.

The footprints went directly up to the wall of blackthorn – and then – nothing! It was as if the walker had vanished into thin air. The children looked about, but there was no sign that the walker had turned back or changed direction. The snow around the footsteps was completely smooth and undisturbed.

'It's as if they had walked straight through the blackthorn!' exclaimed Philip. 'But it's impossible to push through,' he continued, eyeing the fierce-looking thorns on the tangled branches. 'Anyone who tried would be cut to shreds!'

'What a mystery!' said Jack, looking perplexed. 'There must be a simple explanation – but what!'

'There must be a way through the blackthorn,' said Dinah, feeling about. But then she pulled her hand back sharply. 'Ouch! These thorns are so sharp!'

'Well there has to be an explanation... something that we're just not seeing,' said Jack, determined not to be beaten. 'He can't have vanished into thin air!'

'But there's simply no way through,' said Dinah, shivering with cold. 'I say, I'm awfully cold – perhaps we should go home now, and come back tomorrow. '

'Let's walk just walk along a little and see if we come to a gap in the blackthorn,' persisted Jack. 'There must be a way to get beyond it. And maybe we'll find some undiscovered part of this ancient woodland... what fun to go where no one else ever goes!'

'Well someone goes there,' pointed out Lucy-Ann. 'Someone with big feet, who appears to be able to walk straight through a dense blackthorn hedge!'

Jack tramped about, keeping close to the line of blackthorn and looking hard for a gap in the dense, thorny trees. Dinah and Lucy-Ann didn't follow, choosing instead to wait by the gigantic oak tree.

'Why would anyone even want to go beyond the blackthorn?' sighed Lucy-Ann, puzzled. 'It's not a pretty part of the forest, it's just blackthorn, blackthorn and more blackthorn. It's bleak and sinister, if you ask me. Oh do let's go back soon!'

'I must say, I agree with Lucy-Ann this time,' said Dinah, her teeth chattering. 'I'm freezing, and I've got the beginnings of a headache.'

Philip noticed that Dinah was starting to look pale.

'Come on,' said Jack relentlessly. 'Let's use our brains to think our way out of this puzzle – let's look for a new angle.'

'Well I vote we come back tomorrow and fathom out the mystery,' said Dinah, leaning her aching head against the rough bark of the oak tree.

She looked up at the dull, grey sky. The sun had disappeared completely, and the light was fading fast.

Then suddenly she called out in an excited voice, her face beaming with delight.

'I've solved it!' she grinned. 'I know how he vanished into thin air!'

For there, securely fastened to one of the lower oak branches, was a bundle of thick knotted rope!

'Quick,' said Jack, tugging Philip's arm. 'Climb up on my shoulders and see if you can reach the rope'.

'Oh do be careful, Philip,' said Lucy-Ann anxiously.

After much scrambling, Philip was hoisted up onto Jack's shoulders. He stretched out his arm and caught hold of the edge of the rope bundle, giving it a tug. The bundle unravelled easily and down tumbled a rope ladder! Philip grasped the lowest rung and hauled himself onto the ladder. It seemed sturdy and secure – it was clearly designed to take the weight of someone much heavier than Philip. He scrambled up to the top of the ladder and then clambered onto the sturdy oak branch. From that lofty position he was higher than the top of the blackthorn.

'Well?' called Jack impatiently, wishing he was on the branch instead of Philip.

Philip looked down at the upturned faces of Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack.

'This branch reaches right over the blackthorn, and there's another rope ladder hanging from the far end of the branch,' he explained. 'Whoever comes here must climb up one rope ladder, edge along the branch, and then climb down again at the other side.'

Philip once again peered over the blackthorn. This time it was Jack who spoke.

'Be quick, Philip,' he said, glancing up at the sky. 'I reckon we've only got half an hour before dusk – we really had better start back very soon – we need to be home before dark.'

Lucy-Ann and Dinah looked relieved.

'Just another minute,' said Philip. 'I can see something... there's a mass of holly... and I can just make out something... it's an old, ramshackle wooden hut!'

'It's probably just an abandoned forester's cabin,' said Jack.

'No, it's not abandoned!' exclaimed Philip. 'There's a stack of firewood logs by the door.'

'So what?' asked Dinah. 'Why shouldn't there be logs by the door? Presumably someone just left them there before they abandoned the place.'

'But Dinah, you dimwit,' said Philip, 'they don't have any snow on them! So they have been stacked there since the last snowfall.'

'But it snowed last night,' said Lucy-Ann.

'Exactly!' exclaimed Philip. 'So those logs must have been put there earlier today. Well, what do you say to that, Dinah?'

But Dinah didn't reply. Instead she was staring up at the rough trunk of the oak tree. For there, just above her head, Dinah could see a large tuft of light brown fur. Quick as a flash, she plucked the furry tuft off the tree bark and slipped it quietly into her pocket.

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