Sarah couldn't sleep. She had slept at her Grandma Emily's house before, but before there hadn't been a storm. Rain lashed at the windows, thunder rumbled and white lightning split the plum-coloured sky in two. The girl tossed and turned, until she nearly fell out of bed. Sighing, Sarah tiptoed down the wooden stairs to see Grandma Emily.
"Can't you sleep, Sarah?" smiled the lady. She was flicking through a family photo album, whilst making her way through a packet of custard creams.
"No," Sarah grimaced. "I know it's a bit babyish, but could you tell me a story?"
"What's babyish about stories?" Grandma sounded genuinely surprised. "I'll tell you a story! How about the legend of Emma Hood?"
"Yes, please!" shouted Sarah in delight. "It sounds exciting!" She ran back upstairs, and in the blink of an eye, she was tucked up in bed, ready and waiting. Grandma followed her up, smiling to herself.
"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin..."
Chapter 1 A day in the life
of Emma
It was dawn. The sun shone down on the forest, making the withered summer flowers glow once more. Several blackbirds chirruped eagerly at the growing warmth. From the very top of a large beech tree, a robin swooped low, skimming the ground. It then alighted on a branch, near to a rough hammock. Chattering excitedly, the bird pecked at a mop of curly, ginger hair that was spilling over the sides of the hammock. A girl sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Scarlett!" she cried, fending off the robin. "I'm not a worm, or some red moss. You knew it was me all along!" She looked around her. "Oh! What a lovely autumn morning it is, though!" Emma (for that was her name) leapt down from the tree, (which was a good few metres high) and landed lightly onto the ground.
Emma grinned, showing nicely set white teeth. She was a very pretty child. Her large emerald-green eyes were set in a pale face, either side of a small nose which was smothered with freckles. She wore a rough shirt, made with an old hessian sack, and matching shorts. She had a pouch hanging around her waist containing a few coins and hazelnuts. A large rip down the front of the shirt was held by the most valuable thing Emma had - a gold hairslide with an emerald set into the largest end.
"Do you fancy some food? Sylvia should have come by now..." Emma whistled sharply, a long piercing note that could be heard anywhere in the forest. Presently, a grey squirrel bounded up, dropping five large hazelnuts at the girl's feet "Nice work, Sylvia!" praised Emma. "Just enough for my breakfast - and of course you get some as well!" Nearby was a bundle of brambles. Emma picked a handful of blackberries, giving three to Scarlett. She bit little holes in the berry's segments, feeling the juice run down her chin, before swallowing them whole. Then Emma ran to the foot of an oak. Brushing past a wall of ivy, she entered a small cave. A bucket full of nuts stood against the cool, bumpy surface of the wall. Next to it was a dirty bag with some apples and plums in it. Emma went to the bucket and pulled out five walnuts. Sylvia appeared out of nowhere and selected six hazelnuts. Together, they walked (or hopped) out, cracking open the nuts and crunching on their insides.
"Now," whispered Emma, addressing the squirrel and robin. "I got wind that some people were coming here on a hunting trip. They'll be after some pheasants. Sylvia, you distract them. Scarlett, can you nick some sweets for me? I'm off for a quick wash before we begin our heist." And with that, the little girl ran across the wood until she came to her favourite river. Cupping her hands, she scooped up some water, gratefully tipping it down her thirsty throat. Water trickling down her shirt, she took two steps back before leaping into the river with an almighty SPLASH! "Ahhhh!" Emma smiled. "Why wash clothes and yourself separately when you can save time and do it together?" Diving underwater, she felt her hands brush something. Something vaguely furry. She picked it up. It was a rope. "This'll come in handy!" she claimed. Feeling happy and clean, Emma climbed out of the river with the rope. She took her clothes off and wrung them out, shook them up and down and put them back on again.
Several gunshots cracked away a bit to the east. Emma ran through the wood and leapt up the tree nearest to the men, still clutching her rope. Sylvia sat next to her, waiting for the orders. The squirrel glanced at Emma, who nodded silently, and the squirrel leapt down out of the tree and bounded up to the men who were counting gun cartridges. "Cuk-cuk-cuk!” shouted Sylvia, throwing pinecones (especially found for this purpose) at them. All the men laughed and one flicked a nut at the little squirrel, who continued to scold.
"Ha, ha!" You're not havin' our game, are ya?" they roared, in tears of laughter.
Emma was ready. She swung her rope into the neighboring tree, tugging to check its stability. Then she jumped off the branch, swinging alongside the man who was holding a bulging bag of birds. Reaching out, she grabbed two pheasants which were hanging out of the bag. As the rope swung back to her original tree, she grabbed another two pheasants. She had just run out of sight when there came a cry of disbelief - "Hey! Four of them birds 'ave gone! Right out from under me nose!" Giggling under her breath, Emma ran back to her hidden cave and shoved the pheasants in, making sure the ivy covered the entrance completely. Soon the sound of trudging feet died away.
"Scarlett! Sylvia!" whispered Emma. "It's safe to come out now!" The two animals appeared, chattering eagerly. Scarlett hopped up onto the girl's shoulder, twittering excitedly. "What did you find, then?" smiled Emma. "Come on, then! You lead the way." The robin flew off, checking that Emma was still following every so often. In a little nook in the ground was Scarlett's treasure; two toffees, some strips of gum, a Mars bar - and a cigarette lighter in a shade of peppermint green. "What's this?" Emma picked up the lighter, knocking the little nob on the side. A pale yellow flame sprang up. "Well done, Scarlett!" cried Emma. "This will really help with the fire tonight! Help yourself to as many blackberries from my bush as you like! You've really earned them today!" Scarlett flew off as Emma turned to Sylvia. "Nice work with the distraction - they only noticed when it was far too late to do anything! Go into the storeroom and have as many nuts as you want!"
***
After Emma, Scarlett and Sylvia had their lunch (nuts, blackberries, dandelion leaves and apples), Emma ran up to a nearby field, her animal troop close behind.
"No, you two. This is a mission just for me. Entertain yourselves until I get back." The little creatures turned, flew and bounded back to the camp. They knew to trust their leader. Emma continued through the field, skirting around the edges, completely ignoring the nettles and thistles that she ran beside bare-legged. She darted about until she found a barn labelled as '27'. Picking up a bucket, the little bandit looked along the stalls until she found a certain cow, which she slid under and milked her as quickly as she could without knocking over the bucket. "Thanks, Heidi," Emma whispered as she jumped up, taking the now full bucket with her. "Do you suppose that the farmer has worked out that you're my cow yet?" She giggled as she left. "Humans are so gullible." she mused as she slipped back through the barn doors as a sleepy-looking farm hand staggered in, a bundle of hay under his pimply arms.
Grinning from ear to ear, she leapt into the open window of the cellar of the farmhouse. As quietly as she possibly could, Emma took an empty bottle out of a cupboard and filled it with the milk, then left the empty bucket by the door. Then she screwed a lid onto the bottle and pulled an old bag out from under her shirt in which she put the milk bottle, a half-full packet of flour and four eggs that were in another cupboard. Dropping some coins into the places of the taken items, she heard footsteps above her, and a voice saying that it would "get them eggs righ' now, Mrs Le-Fleur". The footsteps became louder and louder and nearer and nearer. Emma needed to act fast. She slapped a pack of butter into the bag and looked about, her fiery hair flying across her face. There had to be a way out! 'How did I get in? How?' thought Emma desperately. If she was caught she would be put in prison for sure, with no Scarlett, no Sylvia, and with only a bit of light out of a tiny, barred... 'Window! Yes!' THAT was her ticket to home. She climbed through the window with the bag and dropped onto the ground below, shivering like a frightened rabbit just in time. No sooner had Emma's head bobbed out of sight than the cellar door opened and a red-faced lady walked in, muttering under her breath. She saw that the window was still ajar.
"Window needs padlockin' or burglers'll 'ave the silver," she growled, slamming it shut with a bang.
The moment Emma heard the window shut, she was off like the wind. She was back at the wood in two minutes, putting the loot in her store.
When she had caught her breath and had eaten a plum, Emma was back at work, baking a loaf of bitty bread. It was very simple to make - it was just bread with some extra berries, nuts or other seasonal fruits. Today it was apple and blackberry. By the time she had finished kneading it, it was starting to get dark out there in the wood.
"Brilliant!" she said. "Now's the perfect time to light a fire. No-one will notice the smoke!" After collecting a bundle of fallen branches, Emma lit the pile with her new lighter. The fire blazed and crackled as Emma turned the spit. Her dinner was roast pheasant with a slice of bitty bread and plum sauce. Earlier she had cleaned, plucked and smoked all the birds, putting away three, keeping one for now. Emma prodded her roast with a stick. Clear juices surged out of the succulent, tender meat. She pushed a plum into the pheasant. Once it had all cooked, the bread included, she carved the meat expertly and sliced the loaf neatly, ready for eating. Then she sat down on an old stump and ate. And ate. And ate. Emma ate until she thought she would burst. When she was done, she put away the leftovers for another day, put out the fire and curled up in her hammock. As she sighed and stared at the stars above, Emma mulled over the day's work, and what jobs she would get done tomorrow.
This was how that little scamp lived, day after day. Sometimes she would take from the fishermen, or occasionally from another house. She was never caught. But Emma's life was turned upside down the day she was seen...
Chapter
2
The unlikely meeting
For
such a rich boy, it was surprising how often Daniel Charles Benjamin Le-Fleur
got bored. Dan (as he preferred to be called) was the only son of the multi-billionaires
Lord Robert and Lady Elizabeth Le-Fleur. Lord Robert owned seven very wealthy
oil plants set by the Galapagos Islands, and Lady Elizabeth was the manager of
an extremely pricey jewellery shop in the centre of London. Dan attended a
private school, St. Kenneth's School for Previous Head Pupils, which cost
£12,000 a term. Despite his riches and good personality, he had no friends
whatsoever. There were hundreds of gangs in the school - but nobody wanted the
'Titch' as Dan was nicknamed. He had tried every gang - Ivetta's was girls
only, Thomasina only wanted fans of the latest pop group, for Sidney's you
needed the weekly password to be allowed in and Samuel preferred Mohicans. Then
there was Victor O'Brine. The Playground Terror, he and the gang spent many a
happy hour mugging the littler kids and punching anyone who disagreed with
them. One of their favourite games was catching Dan, forcing him to hand over
his crisps and chocolate, kicking him until he gave in, and finishing off by
smearing mud in his usually clean brown hair. That was just morning break.
Today,
Daniel ran all the way back from school, his face smarting with embarrassment.
Victor had thrown him into the school's pond, much to the gang's delight. He
rushed into the house, not looking back once. Dan threw his coat, homework and pencil case into the
arms of the closest servant, and dashed up to Bathroom 1. As he scrubbed the
algae out of his hair and the frogspawn from his pockets, Dan wondered if he
could go for a mess around in the forest at the edge of his family's land. His
mother hated him doing anything 'dirty, untidy, and most terribly common!', but
she was currently at work so how could she know? After changing into his home
clothes, Dan ran straight into the kitchen and helped himself to the box of
chocolates that were residing on the table.
"Billy,
can I go down to Tumbledown Forest?" Dan asked nervously. The chef sighed
at the question. He had been asked this too often for his liking.
"Yes
you can, but make sure you are back before your mother. She will not be
pleased..."
"Thanks,"
smiled Dan, running to the hall for his coat. "I'll be back soon!" He
rushed out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Now, where was the
forest again? It was around the back of the farm, and then straight ahead. Dan
set off at a run, because otherwise there wouldn't be much time to play.
Because of the years with no friends, Daniel was an expert at playing by himself.
At last he arrived. The sun had gone in, and gave the trees a miserable look. A
slight mist hung about, making Dan feel anxious. He gave a sigh. The forest was
really the only place where he felt safe enough to think about his problems.
Deep down he was angry. Why couldn't his parents send him to another school?
One where he was admired and respected because of his riches, instead of jeered
at for his height and stupidity. Dan felt so furious that he picked up a large
stone and threw it into the river flowing close by. It hit a fish swimming
past. It floated up to the surface, apparently dead. Now the little boy felt
guilty. He had let his anger take control.
"Leave
nature alone. If you're going to hurt anyone, pick on someone your own size.
Come and fight me." called an angry voice from behind him. Slightly shaky,
Daniel turned around to see who was talking to him. There was nobody there.
Something moved in the corner of his eye. He looked up. Just above the puzzled
boy, in the branches of a tree, was the silhouette of a girl, probably no older
than himself, calmly leaning against the trunk.
"Who
are you, and what do you want?" Daniel shouted uneasily. The silhouette
jumped down neatly, landing on her feet.
"I,"
said the girl, now clearly visible. "I am Emma Hood. And, if I may ask,
what are you doing in MY wood?"
Chapter
3
The promise and the whistle
Daniel
looked scornful. "YOU'RE wood?! I think you'll find it belongs to my
family. It's private property! I could have you jailed for this."
"I
think we owe each other an explanation. My turn now - who are you?" said
Emma, smiling pleasantly. Now Dan just looked astonished. How quickly this girl
could change the subject!
"Who
am I? Who am I? I am Daniel Charles Benjamin Le-Fleur. Only son of
Robert and Elizabeth Le-Fleur." he added. "Now, why are you in my
forest?" Emma grinned.
"It's
a long story, but in case you hadn't noticed, there's a dying trout over here."
Emma ran to the river where the fish floated, its gills flapping slowly. She
turned it over and saw a gash down its side. Gently, the girl slid the scales
over the cut until it was hidden. Then she picked a leaf from a bushel of duck
weed and held it to the fish's mouth. It gulped it down gratefully and swam
away.
"There!
Now, if you want me to tell you my story, I must first trust you, and you must
trust me. Will you promise not to hurt any more animals, or plants?" asked
Emma.
Taken
aback slightly, Daniel instantly said "Yes, of course I promise! Why did
you ask me?"
"Because
anyone who is a friend to nature is a friend to me. Now, how can I gain your
trust?" Dan wasn't sure how, and was just about to say he already liked
her, when he remembered Victor. Emma could help him conquer the bullies!
"If
you can stop the school bullies, then I will most definitely trust you! Victor,
Oscar, Michael and Aloysius make school awful. Please?" Emma thought for a
bit, then ran off, telling Dan to wait there. She came back a few minutes
later, carrying a little whistle.
"Here!
If you're ever in trouble, wherever you are, blow this whistle and I'll come.
Try it now!" Dan blew the whistle. It made a high-pitched, piercing
shriek. Dan jumped at the noise, dropping it on the ground.
"Whoa!
That's loud! But what if you're at school?"
"School?
Pah!" snorted Emma. "I wouldn't dream of going to that funhouse! Oh,
would you like to see my two best friends? I'll call them." Emma whistled
sharply. Sylvia and Scarlett leapt down from a nearby tree and perched on
either of the little girl's shoulders. Daniel stared in surprise at their
friendliness towards Emma. All animals, however big or small, ran away when
they saw him.
"How
did you get them to be so tame? I've never seen an animal that obeys its master
like-"
"Tame?
Obeys its master? I am most definitely NOT their 'master'. They are their own
masters. We help each other here in the forest. Scarlett," Emma pointed to
the robin. "And Sylvia," she gestured to the squirrel. "Find
food for me and provide distractions when we go, er, looking for, um,
things..." she giggled sheepishly. “And in return, I store the food for us
all in winter and help to shelter them too."
"Sorry
Emma. I didn't realize. All the animals that I've met have been bred for pets -
dogs, cats, guinea pigs, gerbils..." Dan counted them off on his fingers.
Emma stopped him.
"It's
fine. By the way, do I have to call you Daniel Charles Benjamin Le-Fleur, only
son of Robert and -"
Dan
laughed and waved his hands. "No, no, no! Just call me Dan or Danny. It's
what my friends call me. If I had any."
"So
are we friends?" Emma asked hopefully. Dan nodded. "Thank you! It's
no problem having animal-friends, but I always wanted a friend that I could
talk to properly!"
A
car roared past in the distance. One of the servants jumped out and shouted
down into the wood,
"Daniel,
your mother will be back soon. Come quickly." Daniel groaned in dismay.
"I
have to go home now. Can I visit you tomorrow?"
Emma smiled.
"Of
course! But you have to swear not to tell anyone about me. Do you
promise?"
Daniel looked at her, surprised.
"Why?"
"Just
don't tell anyone. And I mean ANYONE. Do you promise?" Emma whispered,
running back to her hammock and a pheasant supper.
The
little boy watched her run away. She was gone as quickly as she had come. It
was almost as if she had melted into the bark of the trees.
He
called back, “I promise."
Chapter
4
The end of the Playground Terror
It
took Daniel quite a while to go to sleep that night. He had so much to think
about, and so many questions to ask Emma. How old was she? Where did she live?
Who were her parents? Or did she actually live in the wood? All his thoughts
chased each other around and around his head until he finally fell asleep. He
dreamt that he lived in the wood in a hut made of dead trout, with a pet
chicken. But then his dream became a nightmare when Victor and the gang
appeared and turned into vampires, eating the hut, the chicken, and
finally Daniel himself. He was falling, falling, falling... Dan woke up with a
jolt. He was sitting up in bed, cold sweat running down his back. Oh, it was
just a dream. Daniel thought, sighing gratefully. Thank goodness! Thinking
it must be time to get up, he glanced at his luminous clock. 4:27am it said.
Once more, Dan sighed. This time with frustration. I had to wake up really
early, didn't I? He sat up and pulled the whistle out of his pyjama pocket.
It was wooden, and had a bird with its wings outstretched carved on top.
Smiling, Danny put the whistle back and rolled over. Pretty soon, he was asleep
once more.
Three
hours later, Dan woke up at a much more civilised time. He peered at his
calendar. It was Tuesday the 10th of September. Usually Daniel would have
groaned inwardly, knowing what school would be like. But not today!
He had the
whistle.
He had power.
He had hope.
Instead of skulking downstairs, he slid
down the banisters humming to himself. Grabbing a slice of toast with one hand
and a glass of juice with the other, Daniel slipped into kitchen and helped
himself to some cereal.
"You
look happy this morning, Master Daniel." remarked one of the maids.
"Have you just finished some tests at school?"
"Something
like that!" he shouted from the top of the stairs. Having finished his
breakfast, the little boy rushed into his dressing room and threw on his
uniform. After brushing his hair and cleaning his teeth, Danny made sure that
the whistle was secure in the secret pocket of his blue blazer before flicking
on his iPhone. He checked his texts. More cyber-bullying. As usual. But Dan was
in such a good mood that nothing could stop him. Replying to one of
Victor’s "jokes", Dan texted back saying 'We'll see. Today I'm
prepared, OK? Tell the others to come. From Dan & E. Hood.' That would get
them confused! Dan chuckled. Bring 'em on!
***
After
division, multiplication tables and some pencil flicking, it was break time at
St Kenneth's. Daniel grabbed his snack - a banana - and raced outside before
Oscar's feet could trip him up again. He ran up to the top playground, an area
with just enough space to play badminton - well, you could if it wasn't the
territory of the Playground Terror. The gang followed close behind. They
cornered him against the wall.
"So,"
drawled Victor lazily. "What was that email all about. Who's this E Hood?
Sounds like another bad brand of hoodies." With that the whole gang burst
out laughing. Daniel smiled cheerfully. This made Victor even madder. He
grabbed Daniel by the collar and growled at him. "Go on then," he
snarled. "Spill the beans. Who's this E Hood?" But still, Daniel
continued to smile, looking annoyingly smug. "Well, I guess we'll just
have to force you to tell us. Fancy meeting up with the frogs again?
Even if you don't, that's just too bad." Victor started to drag Dan
towards the nearby pond. Quick as a flash, the whistle was pulled out of the
pocket and Daniel was blowing into it, the high, shrill note piercing the still
morning air. The sleepy crows on the telephone wire suddenly leapt up into the
sky and dive-bombed the startled bullies, stabbing at their arms and nipping at
their legs.
"Wow!"
gasped Daniel. That hadn't happened when he had used it in the wood with Emma. Talking
of Emma, where is she? he thought.
"Get
these - aarh- birds off us, you - aarh- evil bully!" yelled the gang
furiously. At that moment, Dan's savior appeared. Emma leapt over the fence in
one swift bound with Scarlett and Sylvia close behind. As quickly as they had
begun, the crows retreated and went back to the wire as if nothing had
happened.
"So,
how did you like the Bird Bombardment?" Emma grinned at Dan.
"Why
didn't it happen before? And why did they stop when you arrived?" the boy
asked, astonished.
"If
they did it when I was around, they would risk injuring me. I feed them, and I
taught them this in case I ever really needed it." The girl, as confident
as ever, turned to Victor, Michael, Aloysius and Oscar who were sitting in a
dazed heap. "What did you lot do that was so bad it made my good friend
Danny blow the whistle?"
"Urrrgh,
um, we was gonna chuck 'im in the pond." groaned Michael as he stood up,
rubbing his arms. The others followed suit. Emma chuckled.
"Yes,
I can see how that would upset anyone. Even I wouldn't like it, and I'm pretty tolerant."
Victor, red with embarrassment, drew himself up to his full height (which was
really quite tall) and glared down at the girl.
"What
are you doing, ruining our game?" he said angrily.
"Well,
if it's a game, how about you take turns in chucking each other into that pond?
Then you can all have some, er, fun!" Emma replied coolly.
"If
you're so good, miss, your "team" can choose a player to climb the
tree down there and fetch the shuttlecock at the top." grinned Victor
nastily, pointing to the huge sycamore tree near the steps. In the very top
branches was an old, worn shuttlecock.
"Oh,
and another member of the team has to catch it as it's thrown back down,
too." added Aloysius.
"Deal,"
said Emma and Dan simultaneously. "Do we say who is going up the tree, or
is it secret?" asked Daniel. He had a plan.
"Um,
secret," said Victor quickly. "Decide who it is now." He turned
away to discuss the matter. Emma, Danny, Sylvia and Scarlett huddled together.
"Emma,"
whispered Dan. "I have a plan so we definitely win." With a few
points and demonstrations, Dan explained. It was quite simple, really.
"You
ready?" called Victor. "On your marks, get set, GO!" With that,
Oscar and Sylvia hurtled towards the tree. Sylvia was at the top in a trice.
She grabbed the shuttlecock in her paws and squeaked to Scarlett. The robin
fluttered off Emma's shoulder over to the tree, claws outstretched. (Oscar was
still struggling to get higher than the bottom branches - he was afraid of
heights!) Scarlett took the prize in her claws and flew back to Daniel. She
swooped low and dropped the shuttlecock into the boy's hands.
"And
it's all over!" Daniel called out triumphantly. "We win. Now leave us
alone."
"Not
so fast!" leered Michael. "That there robin 'elped to bring it down -
we never said no-one could take it from the tree to the catcher. We win."
"Oh,
yes. The team who couldn't get past the bottom branches win. Very likely. Do
you want to have a bet?" mocked Emma. "I'll take you on. All of you
at the same time. If I can get you all in the pond, I win. If you get me in,
you win." Before waiting for an answer, she leapt at the bully's knees,
knocking them all down like skittles. Fists flying, Emma whipped some baler's
twine from her pouch and used it to trip Oscar into the pond. Michael grabbed
at the girl's hair, succeeding in tearing a few hairs out. Emma ducked and
shoved him in the direction of the murky water. He grabbed at Aloysius, pulling
them both into the weed. All three bobbed in the water, hair dripping, cheering
their leader on as he and Emma battled it out. Just at the wrong moment Emma
leapt, Victor dodged and the girl scraped across the tarmac. Face and elbows
bleeding, Emma jumped back up again with new intentions. She wrestled with the
boy until she came to about a meter of the pond's edge. Victor sensed an
opportunity. He grabbed her arms, dragging her over to the water.
"Who's
won now, Emma?" he gloated, holding her out. Emma wriggled out of
his grip, jumped over his head and landed behind him gracefully, finishing
nicely by shoving him face-first into the pond. Emma grinned triumphantly.
"Us,
Victor. Us."
Chapter
5 The
custard creams
"That
was amazing!" gushed Daniel. "Did you see how embarrassed they
all looked as you helped them out of the pond?"
"Yes,
but hold still." said Emma, rubbing blood onto Daniel's face and arms,
finishing with a dab of mud. She ruffled his hair and pinched his cheeks.
"There!"
"Ow!
What was that for?" grimaced Dan, rubbing his face. "I'm
filthy!"
"Now
it looks like you've been in a fight. A fight with the bullies? Everyone
will love you for putting that lot in their place. Now go, the bell's ringing.
See you tonight!"
"Bu-"
Daniel protested.
"GO!"
said Emma impatiently. "Meet you same place as last night. Bye!"
***
The
rest of school flew past in a blur. Daniel told everyone about how he had
defeated the bullies, but deep down he felt a bit guilty. He was taking credit
for the battle Emma had fought and won. All the same, it was brilliant! Victor
now flinched at the mention of Daniel, and everyone wanted "the hero"
for their gang. People had been apologizing, finding reasons to sit next to him
in class and making exceptions for him to become part of the gangs. He was now
part of no less than 19 groups. After school, though, Dan grabbed a packet of
custard creams and raced down to the woods. Emma was nowhere to be seen.
"Er, Emma?"
he called. Rustling came from the direction of some ivy. A head of flaming red
hair was emerging from the curtain, closely followed by a robin and a squirrel.
Emma was holding a smoked pheasant and some apples.
"Oh, hi Dan! I
was just getting some food. It's too early for me to light the fire, so I
thought we could just have some cold stuff for now!" she said, smiling.
"Are you
camping, or is this a sort of secret stash your parents don't know about?"
Dan asked, peering around. Emma looked up from re-arranging some logs.
"No, I live
here, of course! That's my food store, and up there," she pointed to a
dirty, leaf-covered hammock, "is my bed. Doesn't everyone live like
this?" Daniel looked stunned.
"You LIVE here?!
In the forest?"
"How do you
live? It can't be that different, can it?" asked Emma. Daniel went
on to explain his large, luxurious house, punctuated by questions from Emma
about what cars and sinks were, while they ate apples.
"Wow, I never
realised!" said a surprised Emma afterwards. "I still have no idea
what a telling-fone is, though..."
"It's telephone,
but that doesn't matter." said an amused Daniel. At that point, Scarlett
flew over and dropped the lighter on Emma's head, tweeting loudly.
"Ow, don't do
that next time, Scarlett!" she exclaimed, rubbing her head, "But I
can take a hint, it is getting dark. I'll light the fire and we can have toost,
is it called?"
"Nearly, it's toast,"
Daniel laughed. He then remembered the packet of custard creams he was holding,
"Do you want to try one of these? They're called custard creams. They
taste delicious, go on, take one!" He ripped open the packet and held the
biscuits out to Emma. She took one, and pushed it whole into her mouth. She
slowly chewed, swallowed, and announced,
"Those are
amazing! I love them!" She then proceeded to shove three biscuits into her
mouth, then another two after those, and soon Emma had eaten the whole packet!
"Hey!" protested
Daniel, "I wanted some of those! Never mind, there are more at home."
Emma lit the fire
surprisingly quickly, Daniel thought. Soon it was blazing, spitting little
sparks out.
"There!"
exclaimed Emma. She held out some slices of bitty bread and a long stick.
Daniel speared some bread onto the stick and held it over the fire. It smelt
delicious. When it was fully toasted, he took a bite. It burned the roof of his
mouth it was so hot, but it tasted sweet and fruity. It reminded Daniel of a
fruit loaf the cook would bake at Christmas.
"Do you like
it?" asked Emma anxiously. Daniel looked up, smiling.
"That's
delicious! What's it made of?" he asked. Emma told him to wait there, and
ran off to the little food store. She came back a minute later with some boxes
and bags in her hands.
"I don't know
the names of any these things, but I use these to made bitty bread."
Daniel looked at each of the ingredients.
"Well, that's
flour, and this is salt. This is milk, good quality milk from well-raised cows,
too and those are obviously apples and blackberries. But where did you get the
flour, milk and salt? You can't just pick it from a bush, like with the
berries," he said, puzzled. Emma blushed, and twirled some of her vivid
hair around her finger.
"Um, er, you know
I said Scarlett and Sylvia help me when we go looking for things? Well, ah, we
go into houses and take things that we need. Only what we really need,
though," she added hastily, seeing the horrified look on Daniel's face,
"and I leave these weird hard things in their place, because I know humans
love these, I don't know why..." She held up a 20p coin from
her pouch, along with a 2p and a couple of 1p coins.
"That's
stealing, Emma! You can't do that! You could get sent to jail for that!"
gasped Daniel. "That's money, those coins you're holding. Look, there's a
20p, a two-pence piece and some 1ps. You can't get
anything without money, Emma. I thought you'd know that." Emma hung her
head and said,
"I can't count,
Daniel. I can't write, either. I know everyone else can. I'm really stupid,
aren't I?" Daniel was still shocked that his friend stole, but he felt
sorry for her. Fancy not being able to count!
"You shouldn’t
steal, but I’m sorry. If you like, I'll teach you to count, and to read and
write. How about that?" he said. Emma cheered up instantly.
"Thanks! I'd
love that," she said. Then she looked up. Stars were winking down at them,
and an owl was hooting in a nearby tree. "Isn't it getting a little late?
You should probably go home now. Thanks for coming, though!" Daniel looked
up too.
"Goodness, yes,
I'd better go, or my mum will go mental! Thanks for the food; I'll see you
tomorrow for your first maths lesson!"
Chapter 6 Hibernation plans
Over the next month
or so, Emma and Daniel became very close friends. Daniel visited her every day
after school, always bringing a packet of biscuits. There was a sort for every
day; Mondays were rich tea biscuits, chocolate digestives on Tuesdays, on
Wednesdays Dan brought bourbons & for Thursday it was shortbread fingers.
Emma loved all these, but she lived for Fridays, as this was the day Daniel
brought custard creams. Saturdays were spent going over times tables and
whatever else they had been learning during the week. Then Emma would cook a
stew, or make a roast dinner using some old pots and pans Daniel had smuggled
out of his kitchen. She now had a miniature garden, too, where she grew a few
carrots, potatoes and turnips. Since learning to read, Emma had suddenly become
a bookworm. If she wasn’t eating, sleeping or learning, she was in her hammock,
reading long novels.
But time doesn't
stand still, and it was 15th November when Daniel noticed Emma's
behaviour had changed. It was a regular Thursday, and Daniel found Emma running
around frantically, instead of curled up in a tree with a book. He pulled a
packet of shortbread out of his rucksack. Emma ran towards him and tore the
packet out of his hands, then hid it in a hollow tree.
"Hey!"
shouted Daniel, "I thought we shared the biscuits!" Emma turned
around and said,
"We need to
start storing the food, though. It's nearly time to hibernate! Can we not have
lessons today, please? I can do long division quite well, really!" Daniel
looked baffled.
"Hibernate?
Humans don't hibernate, Emma. Sylvia does, but Scarlett doesn't. You're like
Scarlett - well, you can't fly, and you don't have feathers, but you know what
I mean. And you can't do long division, remember what you did yesterday?"
"Daniel, that
was an accident, and of course I hibernate," said Emma, "Maybe you
don't, but I do. It's too cold, and there isn't much food around apart from the
stuff I store. Sylvia and I sleep in this tree, here," she pointed at the
hollow tree, "and I leave the store open for Scarlett." Daniel
couldn't believe it. Emma hibernated!
"But Emma, do
you know what you miss by hibernating? You miss the frost, the snow. Well, it
hasn't snowed for 6 years, but it might this year. And there's Christmas! You
can't miss Christmas!" Emma climbed down from her tree.
"What's
Krissmuss? It sounds chilly." Daniel laughed.
"Do you mean
'cool'? It's amazing, trust me! 25th December is Christmas. Santa
comes and he brings you all these presents. You have to write him a letter
first, though, to tell him what you want. And you have a big turkey for lunch,
and you pull crackers, and sing songs, and open more presents from family...
it's amazing!" Emma looked excited.
"Do you think
Santer would bring me what I want if I write him a letter? And can I sing songs
and pull crackers?" Daniel smiled and said, "Of course he would, but
you have to be good or he won't come." Emma grinned and said, "I'm
going to write him a letter NOW!" and she ran into her store and took out
the notepad and pencil Daniel had given her. She sat quietly and wrote for 2
minutes, then she got up and showed Daniel her letter:
‘Dear Santer
For Krissmuss pleese
please can I have sum moor more books? Danyul’s ar tooo smaal.
From EMMA HOOD’
Daniel felt a little
annoyed; he had lent Emma all his longest books, and she just read them all in
an afternoon. Some were 300-pages long, but it took her little over an hour to
read them.
"You've spelt my
name wrong - it's D-A-N-I-E-L, and the books I gave you aren't short, you just
read them too quickly." Emma looked sulky, and said,
"But I want more
books! Can't I ask for what I want? What do YOU want for Christmas?" Daniel
thought for a bit, and finally said, "A pet. I want someone to play with at
home, because when I get home there's no-one there apart from the servants, and
they're too busy." Emma thought, and smiled.
"Consider it
done..." Daniel wondered what she was plotting, but chose not to ask.
“Well, now you’ve got
Christmas sorted, can we get on with some work? I think spelling is needed; that letter was appalling…”
***
Daniel had a wonderful
Christmas. He couldn't see Emma on the day because his parents wanted him to
see the family. But on Boxing Day he said he was going to the park for a
kick-about, and ran down to the forest with a wrapped present in his hands. He
found Emma eating hazelnuts with Scarlett. She was telling the robin all about
her new books. Daniel grinned. Evidently Santa had come for her.
"Hi, Emma! Sorry
I couldn't see you yesterday, but my parents expected me to stay with them. I
got you a present, though!" he said, still smiling. He held out the
package.
"Thanks,
Dan!" said Emma, clearly touched. She carefully unwrapped it and took out
5 colourful objects, all with multi-coloured tassels. "Dan, they're
lovely, but what are they?"
"They're
bookmarks. If you want to stop reading for a bit, you put one in the place you
were reading. Then you can carry on later without losing your place. Now, if
you want to use them, you'll have to read slower!" he said triumphantly.
Emma twirled the tassels in her fingers, and admired the patterns on the front
and back. She gasped and said,
"I almost
forgot! I got you a present, too! Wait there!" Then Emma ran into a bush
and whistled sharply. A huge, black crow flew down and landed on Emma's
shoulder. "Here you are! You said you wanted a pet, so I got you one. He helped
out in the Bird Bombardment. You can choose him a name." Dan was
speechless. He held out his arm, and the crow hopped onto it. The warm weight
felt lovely against his cold arm. "You need to feed him every day, but
he'll eat anything, I'm not joking - he tried to eat my hair yesterday!"
Daniel laughed and stroked the crow’s glossy feathers.
“Is it a girl or
boy?” he asked, “I need to know so I can choose a name.” Emma stroked the crow
and fed it a hazelnut.
“I’m pretty sure it’s
a boy. I thought you’d prefer that, am I right?”
“Yes, you are!” said
Daniel, “I’m going to call him… um …. Cornelius! Yep, you’re Cornelius the Crow
from now on!” he said with a grin. Cornelius cawed in pleasure at his new name.
Then he looked up and flew around, pecking at the small, white flakes falling
from the sky…
“Emma, it’s SNOWING!
It’s really snowing! It hasn’t snowed for years!”
Daniel cried out, jumping and trying to catch the now thickly falling snowflakes.
Emma stuck her tongue out and caught one. She squealed, “Ooooh! Snow is cold!
It tickles!” Daniel laughed. Scarlett flew over and joined Cornelius’ attempts
to eat the falling snow. Daniel looked at Emma. She was picking the snow up and
rolling it in her fingers, stroking it and squeezing it.
“By tomorrow morning,
Emma, the snow will be really thick, and we can build a snowman, and have
snowball fights. It’ll be brilliant!” Emma looked around her at the slowly
whitening trees. She shivered.
“Snow is cold, Dan.
I’m not quite sure I want to,” she said quietly. Daniel looked at her. She did
seem paler than usual, and her bare feet were slowly turning blue. He took off
his coat and put it around her shoulders.
“You can borrow my
coat,” he said. “I’ll come back tomorrow, and I’ll bring hats and gloves as
well.”
Emma smiled
gratefully.
“You’d
better go home now, or your mum will kill you!” she said with a grin. Daniel
walked slowly up to the road above the wood with Cornelius flying behind him,
cawing loudly.
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