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Back under the trees, the line of sight to both hill and meadoas disrupted

I have my compass

So if all else fails, we can find the North Pole

The trail we folloent northwest, Seth assured her Then we left it going southwest The hill is to the west, the ood

The only trick is paying attention

Before long, the trees were thinning and they alking up the hill With the trees farther apart, the underbrush grew higher and the bushes bigger Kendra and Seth wound their way up the moderate slope toward the crest

Do you s

The smell was faint but, now that she noticed it, distinct

Kendra studied the area with sudden alar down

What?

Get down

Seth knelt beside her Kendra pointed toward the crest of the hill Off to one side rose a feeble colu distortion

Yeah, he whispered We ue She hoped so Grandpa What do we do?

Stay here, said Seth I’ll go check it out

I don’t want to stay alone

Then follow ht at the same time Keep salt ready

Kendra did not need that reminder Her only worry about the salt was that her sweaty hands were going to turn it to paste

Seth crept ahead, staying low, using the bushes for cover, gradually er line of smoke Kendra i ar off Even as she followed hi Sneaking up on athe activities she could do without Shouldn’t they be sneaking away?

The trerew nearer Seth waved her up to hiht, trying to breathe quietly He put his lips to her ear I’ll be able to see what’s going on when I get around this bush I’ll try to yell if I get captured or anything

Be ready

She put her mouth to his ear If you play a trick on me, I promise I will kill you, I really will

I won’t I’m scared too

He slunk forward Kendra tried to cal around the bush to take a peek, but could not ht? Unless they had stealthily dropped Seth with a poison dart

The pause stretchedback less carefully than he had left When he ca, Co scary

She went around the bush with him, still tense Up ahead, in a clear area near the summit of the hill, she saw the source of the thin sh cylinder of stone with a wooden windlass and a dangling bucket A well?

Yeah Co smoke re down into the deep darkness Sies, spices

Ary? It smells delicious

I think so too Should we try some?

Lower the bucket? Kendra asked skeptically

Why not? Seth replied

There could be creatures down there

I don’t think so, he said

You think it’s just a well full of stew, Kendra scoffed

We are on a ical preserve

As far as we know it could be poisonous

It can’t hurt to take a look, Seth insisted I’ here is bad I bet this is where fairy people co the windlass, spooling the bucket down into the darkness

I’ on lookout, said Kendra

Good idea

Kendra felt exposed They were far enough fro on the far side of the hill, but they were high enough that she commanded an expansive view of trees and terrain when she looked down the slope With little cover surrounding the well, she worried that unseen eyes e below

Seth continued unwinding the rope, sending the bucket ever deeper Eventually he heard it wetly hit botto the bucket back up

Hurry, Kendra said

I a in the forest can see us

Here it co and pulled the bucket up the last few feet by hand, setting it on the lip of the well

Kendra joined him Inside the wooden bucket, bits of rant yellow broth Looks like a nor sohten up He tweezed out a piece of dripping meat and tried it Good! he announced He plucked out a potato and offered a si the bucket, he slurped so! he said You have to try it

Fro place when approaching the well, a creature eed From the waist up, he was a shirtless man with an exceptionally hairy chest and a pair of pointy horns above his forehead Fro a knife, the satyr charged straight at them

Both Kendra and Seth turned in alar up the slope Salt, Seth blurted, dipping into his pockets

As she fu it between herself and the attacker Not Seth He stood his ground, and when the satyr was a couple of steps away, he flung a fistful of salt at the goatman

The satyr stopped short, obviously surprised by the cloud of salt Seth threw a second handful, groping in his pockets for more The salt failed to spark or sizzle Instead, the satyr appeared bewildered

What are you doing? he asked in a hushed tone

I could ask you the same question, Seth replied

No you can’t You’re spoiling our operation The satyr lunged past Seth and slashed the rope with his knife She’s co

Who?

I’d save the questions for later, the satyr said He wound the rope until it was tight around the windlass, seized the bucket, and started down the hill, spilling soup as he went Fro and branches crunching She and Seth followed the satyr

The satyr slid into the bush Kendra had crouched behind earlier Kendra and Seth dove in alongside hiht, a bulky, hideous woman lumbered into view and approached the well She had a broad, flat face with saggy earlobes that hung almost to her hefty shoulders Her misshapen bosom drooped inside a coarse, hoed texture like corduroy, her graying hair was shaggy and matted, and her build bordered on obese The well barely cao She waddled fro heavily through herthe wooden fraress can’t see ress jerked her head up She ya a couple of steps away froround where Seth had thrown his salt<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>