Circles in the Stream (Avalon: Web of Magic #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

scream, but nothing came out.
    “Do not be afraid.” She heard no sound, and yet she understood the voice perfectly. “ You are safe for now.”
    Emily blinked and shook her head. The dogs were staring at the wolf, amazingly calm, as if they, too, had heard the reassuring words.
    A tightness in her arm made her realize she’d been clenching her fist all this time. She opened her hand and saw that the object she’d picked up from the water was in her palm. It was a small, rough, dark stone.
    She looked back to the wolf, but it had disappeared again. What had just happened? What was that flying… thing?
    Without another thought, she pulled on her shoes, grabbed the leash, and ran as fast as she could, back past the Rocking Stone, back the way she’d come. The dogs galloped ahead and she let them pull her along. Soon she was back at the dirt trail and followed it to the main road out of the preserve.
    The farther she got from the woods, the more the whole thing felt like a dream. Ghosts weren’t real. Wolves didn’t talk. There were no rainbow flowers. And huge flying monsters? Was that what had attacked the cat? She shuddered.
    Biting her lip, she sped up again, tugging on the leash. She was not going to think about any of this weirdness anymore. She was going to go straight home, where she belonged.

“U NABLE TO LOCATE server. Please check the server name and try again.”
    Shoot! Emily sat at her desk, staring at the computer screen.
    As soon as she’d gotten home and cleaned herself up, she’d gone online, trying various search engines to track down information on the Ravenswood Wildlife Preserve. But either the links had the address wrong or the website no longer existed.
    She couldn’t ask her mom for help—she didn’t want to explain about almost losing the dogs and going into the woods.
    She thought of e-mailing her dad. He was a scientist. He’d know what to do. But what would she say? “Dear Dad, having a terrific time here. Today I met a monster and a ghost and I discovered some new flower with rainbow seeds that light up like tiny fireworks…” Ha! Her dad would think she had moved to Transylvania, not Pennsylvania.
    Okay, think… “If one thing doesn’t work,” he’d say, “then try another way.” She typed in “Rocking Stone.” A page of sites came back. “Indian Totems.” She hit the hot link button.
    The site was part of a Web ring dedicated to Native American legends and stories. She skimmed down the listing. There it was: “The Rocking Stone.” A sacred monument called “Aluns,” a Lenni Lenape name which means “arrow.” Such stones were believed to be landmarks used to locate doorways to the spirit world…
    She sat back. Those woods were haunted, all right. Kevin had not been wrong about that. So mething was going on out there! But what had happened to her today was simply not possible. She had to have imagined it. Except she hadn’t imagined the cat. Something evil had attacked it. And whatever it was, it was still out there.
    “H EALER…”
    “What—who are you?” She walked through silver-white fog. Faint outlines of trees shifted in the corners of her vision. She had an impression that animals were hiding in the swirling mist, watching her.
    A chorus of voices called to her. “Healer…help us…”
    “I’m not a healer!” she cried in frustration. “I don’t know how to help you!”
    Waves of color swirled violently. The voices vanished as razor claws ripped away the misty curtain. The monster snarled, revealing a mouth full of dripping fangs. Red-hot demon eyes fixed on her. It knew she was helpless! With a roar it attacked—
    Emily bolted up in bed as her eyes flew open, her mouth agape in a silent, choked-off scream. Her Pooh night-light glowed softly near the door. She fought to calm her breathing. It was only a dream, it wasn’t real… Something else was glowing in the room, and it wasn’t coming from the night-light. Emily quietly slipped from