Day Two, Fifth Moon, Hunting Year Five Hundred and Four
I've had my first taste of danger here. It's not here that's the problem. It's the Village. Gino sighted a grew of uncles hunting nearby and set off a silent alarm by lighting a beacon in a metal case with the door ajar so that its light would only shine into the settlement without giving away our location to the uncles. Runners were sent door to door, waving red handkerchiefs to alert the rest of the community without having to speak, except to Roscoe, Bette, and Jeremy who are blind. Their warnings were given to them on wooden plates with a raised etch of a wolf that they could discern with their fingers.
The entire Haven went dark. In minutes, every fire was smothered every conversation silenced. People put up screens made of tree branches, leaves, and nets to camouflage the structures and anyone too far from a building dropped low to the ground. I had been visiting Gino when it happened. I had to huddle quietly in the lookout with my face against the platform. The only movement I saw after the alarm went out was Gino as he notched his arrow and pulled it taut. Hours passed before the hunters were far enough away for us to no longer hear them. My stomach growled - loudly - but I stayed put, watching Gino's face for any hint of what to do next. Dusk had settled by the time he put out the beacon.
YOU ARE READING
The Wood
FantasyLike every other girl in her village, Kyla has been taught to ward off curses with the right concoction of herbs, but when a new plague falls upon the village, the elders begin to hunt for the witch who caused it. Kyla becomes the next target after...
