The Mountains Rise Read Online Free PDF Page A

would
     come and claim a hapless young man or woman, usually because of their sinful thoughts.
    “If they do, it won’t be because of the kind of things I’ve been thinking, trust me. I think a bucketful of bad things every morning before
     breakfast and they still haven’t come for me ,” Seth assured him.
    “Like what?”
    “Most of ‘em involve Cat taking a bath,” said his friend slyly.
    Daniel fought do wn a torrent of varied emotions; anger, jealousy, and a small amount of guilt, since he would be escorting Kate to
     the dance that fall. He pushed those thoughts aside, “Back to the rider…”
    “Yeah,” said Seth, nodding, “Mr. Brown said he saw one crossing the river at the end
     of the valley, where the deep woods start.”
    The ‘deep woods’ was what the people of Colne said when referring to the true forest.
     The shallow hills where they lived were mainly populated because the larger trees
     of the ‘deep woods’ wouldn’t grow there. Some said that there had once been extensive
     plains nearby, but over time the deep woods had spread to cover most of the gentler,
     more temperate parts of the world. It went without saying that no one entered them; if they did, they never returned, much like Kate’s father.
    “Could he tell if it was one of the gods?” asked Daniel again.
    “He couldn’t be sure at that distance, but he didn’t think the hair was silver,” said
     Seth, obviously reluctant to reduce the importance of his information by allowing
     that it was just one of the wardens.
    The forest gods were silver-haired, which was about as much as anyone knew about them.
     It was said that they had blue eyes and slender, tapering ears, but Daniel had never
     heard of anyone who had gotten close enough to honestly claim to know the truth of it . There were also legends about other forest gods, with different colorations, like
     black skin or red eyes, but no one living in the hills near Colne or Dereham had ever
     seen them.
    The warde n s were thought to be human for they had a variety of common hair colors and facial
     features. They could also speak and understand the common tongue, which had never
     happened with one of the forest gods. They were still dangerous, though. When one
     of them appeared in a town it usually preceded the loss of one of the younger men
     or women of the community.
    No one knew for certain what the warde n s’ relationship to the forest gods was, though most assumed them to be some sort of
     servants. Some thought that they originated from the children whom the warde n s had taken over the years, but it was all speculation.
    “You think they might be about to take someone?” wondered Daniel.
    “Who knows?” answered Seth. “Maybe not, it hasn’t happened in our lifetimes.”
    Daniel hoped his friend was right.

Chapter 4
    A week later , Daniel’s mother sent him on an errand to the Sayer house. She wanted him to see
     if Kate’s mother h ad any yellow yarn to sell them; at least that was the reason she claimed.
    “I’d be happy to run over, Mom,” Daniel told her.
    “Don’t run, sweetheart. Take your time, your father can tend the flock today,” she
     told him.
    Alan’s ears pricked up at this pronouncement, “Their house is less than an hour’s
     walk from here. If he doesn’t waste time , he can be back soon enough to handle the sheep.” He sounded mildly annoyed.
    Helen gave him an emphatic look, as if to impress some important information upon
     him without using words. “Let him take his time, Dear. We need to keep up good relations
     with the neighbors.”
    That finally got through to him , and he nodded, but he couldn’t resist a joke, “Oh! Of course you’re right, though
     I can’t help but remember that the last time you spoke to me on the topic , you told me you’d best not catch me making trips to console the Widow Sayer.”
    Helen glared at him while Daniel laughed.
    As he started out the door his father stopped him,