Into the Wildewood Read Online Free PDF Page A

static and Lulu jumped back from the shock. She waggled her hand in the air. “Hey kid, you have some zing there.” Her face had gone splotchy as if she’d eaten shrimp and was having an allergic reaction.
    “Are you okay?” For some reason, Keelie really liked Lulu; she genuinely seemed like a nice person, someone Keelie could hang out with when the Faire got boring.
    “I’m fine. You work here? What’s your name?”
    “I’m Keelie Heartwood. My dad’s shop is next door.”
    Sir Davey saw her and waved, although he frowned when he saw Lulu. “You okay, Keelie?”
    “Fine. Just visiting the neighbors.” Keelie wondered why Davey looked so wary. Knot hissed and arched his back.
    “Is it safe to have that cat loose? He should be on a leash or in a crate.” Lulu looked queasy.
    “You can’t walk a cat on a leash.” But the idea of Knot in a crate was actually pretty good. “Besides, he’s part of my dad’s business.”
    Keelie sensed the oak trees across the lane. Green energy was building up, and the oaks were definitely angry. She looked around, but didn’t see anything that would anger them. Not a lumberjack or beaver in sight. Acorns began pinging on the tin roof of the puppet shop.
    Lulu groaned. “Not again. I’ve complained to the Faire director, and she said it’s being handled, but whatever she’s doing is not working.”
    Keelie looked out. The trees were now like multi-limbed wooden creatures aiming their acorns like little projectiles at the gingerbread shop. Another tingle shot through her, making her shiver. A major dose of tree energy was coming their way. Keelie grabbed her rose quartz and stepped out onto the path. She addressed the trees.
    Stop it. Leave the puppet lady alone. Her unspoken command rang through the clearing.
    No response. Worse, it was as if she’d hit a wall. She was being ignored.
    Shocked, Keelie turned around. This was the first time the trees had rejected telepathic communication with her, and she didn’t like it one bit. It was like calling someone and having them rudely hang up on you.
    Lulu’s gaze traveled past Keelie and up to the branches of the oaks. A breeze swept down the winding lane and acorns showered down around them like green hail. Keelie threw her arms over her head, but no acorns hit her. She looked up.
    An invisible umbrella surrounded her. She could see the acorns hit the air a foot above her, and then careen off as if they’d bounced from something solid. Lulu was gone, fled back into her shop, and Keelie was trapped in a bubble in the middle of an acorn storm. This wasn’t her magic, so who was protecting her?

four
    Through the haze of green and brown nuts, Keelie saw Dad come out from the back room of the shop. He frowned, then held out his hand. Waves of calm rippled past her, then up into the trees. The anger melted, vanishing into calm silence, then subsided into sleep.
    Relieved, Keelie ran toward him. She was going to have to learn how to do that hand thing. She kicked acorns out of the way as she went. They even covered the shop floor.
    “Did you do that?” Dad’s eyes were bloodshot now, and the whites had a green tinge. A side effect of the green magic? Keelie stared, afraid to say anything. It was hard to tell what passed for normal in her crazy new life.
    “No, it was the trees,” she answered. “They blasted us.” Keelie touched one of the wooden support beams: hemlock, local to the forest. An overgrown logging road, and the stumps of ancient trees around her, and sorrow, rooted deep . Whoa. She shook the wood’s memory from her head. She needed more plastic in her life. A credit card would be a good start.
    Dad leaned against the smooth polished pine counter. “I know what the trees did, but did you put up the protection shield?”
    “The what? You mean that invisible umbrella? I thought you did that.”
    Knot sauntered out from behind the counter, his furry tail held high. Hadn’t he just been across the