The Wealding Word Read Online Free PDF Page A

feet. She leapt forward and turned him over, checking to see if he was hurt. The dog rolled sleepily. There was no leaking wound, no blood on her bed. Nell heaved a deep sigh. “Only a dream.” Still, she paused at the door, pulling her tangled hair behind her ears and feeling anew the terror of last night’s visitor. What did it call her again? Greenspeaker?
    Lexi’s voice booming from the kitchen took her mind off her nightmare. Nell sighed again, not wishing to hasten the start of another day with her sister. As winter stole down from the mountains, she was spending less time outside looking for firewood, and more time stuck inside with Lexi. This day, however, she discovered that the morning air was unusually warm. A thin blanket of snow lay melting outside, and the icicles on the eaves poured themselves out in the sun.
    After their parents had left the cottage for the day, the two sisters set to work shaking dusty rugs on the doorstep. Lexi grumbled, “It figures that the nicest day of winter would come on the shortest day of the year.”
    Mr. Gall, the herder who lived down the road, strode by carrying water buckets on a hitch across his shoulders. Nell and Lexi usually kept their distance from him, since they knew he was neither liked nor trusted in the village. He put his load down next to the little ornamental dragon outside their gate. “You two hear about the f-footprints?” he stuttered.
    Lexi shrugged. “No. What footprints?”
    “Queer tracks up and down the village. Looks like you been visited by ‘em too.” He gestured at the thin layer of snow in the yard with his thumb. It was all that remained on his left hand, and he seemed to only display it when he wanted to shock people.
    Nell and Lexi were more interested in the prints than his maimed hand, however. They looked to the dusting on the ground. Some large, cloven-hoofed animal had obviously passed through overnight, circling the trees and meandering even up to the front stoop. Lexi dismissed the tracks immediately, “Looks like some kind of wild horse. Probably after the last squash on the vine.”
    The herder chuckled, his head jerking spasmodically. “Those aren’t h-horse tracks. And I don’t think it was interested in your gourds, unless you grow them on the roof.” Nell approached nearer to Gall and followed the course of the prints with her eyes. They tracked back to stop directly at the side of the cottage. “Just look at that,” he said, deftly hoisting up the hitch once again.
    Nell saw that, though the hoof prints ended next to the house, they resumed in the snow on top of the thatched roof. Their neighbor said, “Ever see a horse climb a sheer wall? Talk is that a d-devil crawled out of the weald last night; and it looks like he was on your roof. Notice anything s-strange?” Gall had an eager look about him, and it seemed his eyes were on Nell. Neither of the girls answered him. The herder walked away calling, “B-best stay close when the sun sets.”
    “Superstitious coot,” Lexi sniffed. Nell saw that there were a few faint traces of snow stuck to the cottage wall, as if the thing walked right up rather than jumping. Lexi saw them too, and for once, the older girl had nothing more to say. She hurried inside, saying, “Get in here,” to Nell. Soon Lexi took to brooding in the kitchen, leaving Nell to peer out her small window and watch the snow melt in the sun.
    Nell couldn’t bear the thought of spending the lovely day inside. “Let’s play! Let’s play!” Rawley rolled about on the floor, excited by the warm weather. His encouragement was all that Nell needed to make up her mind. Making sure her golden acorn was safely stowed in her pocket, she shouted some excuse to Lexi and flew out thedoor, not even bothering to grab her coat. The winter sky above was a canopy of blue. It felt like spring had come four months too early, and Nell wanted to enjoy it before it was gone.
    Sola and Rawley padded beside her as she