Falling In Read Online Free PDF Page B

like a private moment for that, you understand, so I went deep into the wood, and when I got out the others had gotten too far ahead. I couldn’t catch up. I called after them, but no one called back.”
    The girl took a step closer to Isabelle. “I don’t know how they could’ve gotten so far ahead, miss,” she said in a near whisper. “Made me wonder, maybe the witch was nearby, not so far south as they say. Maybe she’d been following us and eaten them what had gone ahead of me.”
    Maybe, Isabelle thought, but more likely they’d run off, knowing that the girl would be scared to find herself alone. They’d heard her calls and covered their mouths so their laughter wouldn’t leak out.
    “I’m afraid to go on by myself, miss,” the girl continued. “I’ll offer my bread if you’ll be my companion.”
    Isabelle’s stomach grumbled. The pain began between her eyes. It would only be a moment before it sharpened its needlelike claws and took hold. She had to eat, but she didn’t want to head north, toward the camps, away from the witch. She could walk with the girl for the time it took to eat the bread, and then she could turn back, she guessed. The path was clear; the girl wouldn’t have any trouble following it.
    She looked at the girl, whose lower lip was trembling. It seemed a shame to send her back to the kids who’d abandoned her. Isabelle knew about children. She knew tears wouldn’t make them any nicer. Just the opposite, as a matter of fact.
    Isabelle felt a soft place open inside her. She wanted to help the girl. But if the girl knew where Isabelle was headed, she’d run fast in the other direction. So Isabelle would have to be a little bit crafty about it. It was the right thing to do. What this girl needed most of all, Isabelle could clearly see, was a friend.
    And so Isabelle Bean decided to give friendship one more try.
    “I’ll walk you to the camps.” Isabelle stood and pointed south. “For a loaf of bread, and any blueberries you might have on you.”
    “I’ve not got blueberries, miss, they’re not in season. But to my bread you’re welcome.” The girl gave Isabelle a worried glance. “Though shouldn’t we start out the other way, miss?”
    Isabelle touched the girl on the shoulder. “I know a shortcut,” she lied.
    The girl pulled a loaf of bread from her pouch and handed it to Isabelle. Isabelle broke off a piece for her young companion before shoving some into her own mouth. The pain between her eyes receded. The two of them began to walk.



12
    The girl’s name was Hen, and she was useful.
    At first she couldn’t stop worrying aloud about when the path would split and she and Isabelle would begin to make their way north. “We’ve been south-bound for some time now, miss,” she’d noted after they’d been walking for more than an hour. “Isn’t it time we broke from the path and changed direction?”
    “If we keep going south, sooner or later we’ll be going north,” Isabelle pointed out. “One way always becomes the other if you give it time.”
    She could tell this bit of navigational wisdom didn’t ease Hen’s mind and decided to take a different approach. “Would you like me to tell you a story while we walk?”
    Looking interested, the girl nodded.
    “Do you know about changelings?”
    Hen nodded again. “Of course, miss.”
    Now it was Isabelle’s turn to be interested. She’d never met anyone before who knew about changelings. The kids she went to school with knew about aliens and they knew about murderers and kidnappers. They knew a little about monsters, though nothing useful, and a touch of vampire lore. But when it came to fairies, elves, changelings, and boggarts, no one Isabelle knew had the slightest idea. It seemed the most interesting things in the world were currently out of fashion.
    Isabelle peered at Hen with more curiosity than she’d possessed a moment ago. “So, what exactly do you know?”
    The girl laughed. “Why, all there