Read The Order of Brigid's Cross - The Wild Hunt (Book 1): The Wild Hunt for Free Online

she kept contained in an old grill base. “Can you at least let me
leave some matches for you?” he asked. “So you can light your fire yourself?”
    Shaking her head, she smiled at him. “I can’t touch fire,”
she explained once again. “It’s against the rules. But I do so love to be
warm.   Thank you kindly, Sean O’Reilly.”
    Standing, he smiled at her and bowed his head in a courtly
manner. “Thank you for allowing me to be of service, Hettie.”
    “You are a good man,” she said. “And when you have need of
me, you’ve only to call.”
    “Thank you,” he replied politely. “I will remember
that.   See you tomorrow, Hettie.”
    “Have a good morrow,” she said and then she looked beyond
him towards the river and the night sky. Her eyes seemed to glaze over, her voice
deepened, and she spoke softly, “And beware, Sean O’Reilly, there is a dark
cast in the sky. Things are changing.”

 
 

Chapter Six

 
    She’d only screamed
once, but somehow that scream created an internal compass in twelve-year-old Sean
O’Reilly and he ran steadily, instinctively knowing he was going in the right
direction. Not once did he consider turning and running the other way, to get
help from someone older and, perhaps, stronger.   He knew if he did not help, she would not survive.
    The woods were his
enemy in his quest. Leaves and branches slapped against his face and arms as he
pushed through the dense brush. And when the vegetation did not seem to hold
him back, the roots of the trees and the rocks on the ground caught at him,
trying to trip him up at every turn. But his young legs were both steady and
agile and he ran ahead, avoiding their snares.
    The day had started
warm, and now sweat trickled down his forehead and bloomed on the front and
back of his t-shirt.   He wiped his
forearm across his face, slick from heat and humidity, and continued on.
    Slowing as he neared
his destination, he realized he needed to have the element of surprise on his
side.   Placing his feet carefully one in
front of the other, heel first and then slowly lowering the ball of his foot
before lifting off again, imitating an Native American
he’d seen hunting in a movie, he glided forward to the edge of the grove.   He could hear movement, but the foliage in
front of him blocked his vision.   Reaching forward, he grabbed hold of the curtain of leaves and pushed
them aside.
    It must be a bear, he immediately
thought, as he stared at the back of the huge beast.   The hide was shiny in spots, like the fur had
worn away, but in other areas tufts of brown, black and silver hair grew thick
and long like a lion’s mane.   It was
standing upright, and the thick muscles in its back confirmed its power.  
    It was only when he
had moved past the shelter of the trees and stepped into the clearing that he
saw her.   She was probably his age, only
her build was far more slender and she was taller, several inches taller, than
he.   Some of her long, red hair, which
fell down to her waist, was caught in the branches of a low-hanging tree, and as
she twisted and turned, trying to escape, the beast came closer. Sean realized
that he only had a moment to act.   A
moment until the hunter found its prey.
    Desperately looking
around for a weapon, he finally knelt and picked up a large stone. He could
throw it at the beast’s head, frightening it away.   But he had to throw it at the right angle. Stepping
forward quickly, thinking only of the girl and his need to help, his foot came
down on a small twig. “SNAP!”
    It shouldn’t have
sounded so loud.   It shouldn’t have
echoed through the forest. It shouldn’t have turned all of the attention
towards him.   But it did.
    The beast turned
slowly, and the blood in Sean’s veins ran cold. He had never seen anything like
it. It was a creature that hid in the darkest corners of your nightmares. Its
head had the girth of a bull, but a boar-like snout glistened in the middle of
it with