Bella and the Chamber (Book Two)

Chapter Forty-Two

So we followed the darting shadows of the spiders into the trees. We couldn't move very fast now; there were tree roots and stumps in our way, barely visible in the near blackness. I could feel Fang's hot breath on my hand. More than once we had to stop, so that I could crouch down and find the spiders in the wandlight. Yep, it was that dark.

We walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, our robes snagging on low-slung branches and brambles. After a while, we noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downwards, though the trees were as thick as ever.

Then Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, making both myself and Ron jump out of our skins.

"What?" Ron asked loudly, looking around into the pitch dark, and gripping my elbow very hard.

"Ow," I hissed, rolling my eyes. "Anyway, there's something moving over there. Listen...Sounds like something big"

We listened. Some distance to our right, the something big was snapping branches as it carved a path through the trees.

"Oh no," Ron moaned. "Oh no, oh no, oh-"

Does this boy have a brain cell?

"Shut up," I hissed frantically. "It'll hear you"

"Hear me?" Ron said in a high voice making him sound like a girl. "It's already heard Fang!"

The darkness seemed to be pressing on our eyeballs as we stood, terrified, waiting. There was a strange rumbling noise and then silence.

"What d'you think it's doing?" I asked, my eyes scanning the darkness.

"Probably getting ready to pounce," Ron said.

Such happy thoughts, Ron.

We waited, shivering, hardly daring to move.

"D'you think it's gone?" I whispered, hopefully.

"Dunno-"

Then, to our right, came a sudden blaze of light. It was so bright that it made both me and Ron raise our hands to shield our eyes from it. Fang yelped and tried to run, but got lodged in a tangle of thorns and yelped even louder.

"Harry!" Shouted Ron, his voice breaking with relief. "Harry it's our car!"

"What?" His car? The flying one?

"Come on!"

I blundered after Ron towards the light, stumbling and tripping, and a moment later we had emerged into a clearing. Mr Weasley's car was standing empty in the middle of a circle of thick trees under a roof of dense branches, its headlamps ablaze. As Ron walked, open-mouthed, towards it, it moved slowly towards him, exactly like a large, turquoise dog greeting its owner.

"It's been here all this time!" Ron said happily whilst walking around the car. "Look at it. The Forest's turned it wild..."

"I can tell,"

The wings of the car were scratched and smeared with mud. Apparently, it had taken to trundling around the Forest on its own. Fang didn't seem at all keen on it; he helps close to me, and I could feel him quivering. My breathing slowed down again and I stuffed my wand back into my robes.

"And we thought it was going to attack us!" Ron leaned against the car and patting it. "I wondered where it had gone!"

"You were only wondering so your dad wouldn't kill you," I pointed out

Ron shrugged. "Fair point. But I'm going to live for another year so I can't complain"

I ignored him and squinted around on the floodlit ground for signs of more spiders, but they had all scuttled away from the glare of the headlights.