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I pulled on et to that breach Hopefully, whatever was chasingme into a trap, unaware that I knew about the break in the cove walls And once through that gap, it was a straight shot into the ocean and away

I wasn’t running now so eriatric lion Every step was torture Pain shot throughto burst But I knew I couldn’t let up so I stea for the break, which et out that way Little did it know…

When I hit the break I plunged through, shouting in triumph, only for my voice to be cut short with a painful "Oof" My dah the narrow opening at too high a speed My own h wall of the cove, and I felt a gash open up above my eyelid I’d had the wind knocked out of ht I heard an ominous rustle behind me, and I peered frantically into the forest as blood dripped down intofroed here when it caled sound, like a wounded hare, and scrabbled at e Then ed out ofaround I dashed into the cove, to geton a little rocking chair that stood on a colorful quilt draped over the pristine sand of my cove sat a little woman She couldn’t have beenDressed in rustic-looking clothes of blue and green, with long gray hair pinned up into a preposterously large bun, she was sine

"Hello, child," she said, as behind me I heard a series of low pants and a funny little whine

I didn’t want to look away from the kindly old lady, convinced she would pull a knife the minute my back was turned Nor did I particularly want to see the true face of whatever had been chasing me And yet I couldn’t let it take me dohile my back was turned; I had to faceht Not that I’d ever been in a real fight in e, onists had always used words as their weapons

In front ofI’d ever seen It didn’t look like a wolf; it looked more like soaze traveled up from its enormous clawed paws, over its powerful shoulders, and to its oversized jahich were filled with the largest fangs I’d ever seen outside of a prehistoric-mammal exhibit

Its slavering ed out of its belly Its ears pricked up at hts I felt a wave of absolute terror rise up fro and threaten to overwhelher stuff than that, and I behaved with as ht before when turning over Peter’s body

I fainted dead away

CHAPTER FOUR

I woke up to the sensation of so at my face and I was overwhelmed by the s and all I could see was a large, fuzzy shape loo above ured out that so, until ue in question was attached to the fangedto sit up and scra was to bring ’s enory, Jane, I thought as my world spun and I collapsed back doith a thu, or the kindly old lady with the bun This face had reen hair, like seaweed Her skin--for I thought it was a her--was a lue, flat nose that barely rose off the surface of her face

Whatever she was, she wasn’t hu

"Let him heal your wound," she said, in an oily, unpleasant voice that did little to quell my fears

The sound made me freeze, even if I didn’t really want to follow her instructions, and I again felt the rough tongue of the big black dog lapping at e as I’ve ever felt, while the dog gently continued to lick The gray-faced being wasexpression at me, and then she reached out and patted my hand

That isn’t a leer, I realized That is a s to co fro had stopped licking my brohich, I had to ad off the blood that had streamed down my face, and then it leaned in to lick the blood that had dripped over my neck and into the top ofvoice "Off"

I raised htly, wagging its tail in what I assumed was hellhound for "Don’t worry, I’m satiated by your delicious blood and therefore won’t eat you… tonight"