Read The Amulet for Free Online

half expecting
someone to be hovering above her. Could she get up? She hadn’t
tried yet. She was feeling very stiff.
    FAEDRA RUN!
    That did it, pain or no pain, she was
listening this time. As if someone had just grabbed her by her
shoulders and lifted her off the ground by her bra straps, she
suddenly realized she was running as fast as her legs would carry
her in the same direction that Gypsy had fled just minutes earlier.
Faen followed closely at her heels. She could hear rustling behind
her and it sounded like it was getting closer. The adrenaline
coursing through her veins gave her just enough extra energy to
speed up, just when she believed she had nothing left. Faedra and
Faen burst out of the woods and were bathed in the light of the
setting sun once again.
    Faedra and Faen both ran several yards away
from the woods before they looked back. Nothing seemed to be
following them now, so they slowed down until they were at a walk.
Then it hit her, a stabbing pain in her hip. She stopped and leaned
forward, putting her hands on her knees to steady herself while she
caught her breath.
    “Oh, great, I did get hurt,” she groaned as
her breathing leveled out. She forced herself to stand up and start
walking, which quickly turned to a limp.
    Up ahead, several people were walking towards
them. Faedra recognized one of them as her friend Lisa. As they got
closer, she could see the worried expressions on their faces. Lisa
broke into a run to get to them sooner.
    “Are you okay?” Lisa fussed as she reached
Faedra. “Gypsy came charging into the yard like a bat out of hell,
sans you, what happened?”
    “Something in the woods spooked her. She
reared and I just couldn’t hang on.”
    “I told you those woods were creepy,” she
replied, somewhat too smugly for Faedra’s liking.
    “Yeah, but we’ve never had a problem before,”
Faedra rebutted, “but, I dare say, I won’t be going back through
there anytime soon.” She looked back towards the woods and
shuddered. Just what had she seen in there?

     
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
    Gypsy had calmed down by the time Faedra put
her back in the paddock. She trotted off to join her field buddies,
seemingly, without a care in the world.
    “Fickle!” Faedra called out after Gypsy,
before limping back to the car and driving home.
    She did her best to play down the limp as she
walked into the living room upon returning home.
    Her dad was relaxing in his chair by the
fireplace when she entered, his legs outstretched, his feet resting
on a footstool. It was summer so there wasn’t a fire burning that
night, but it was her father’s favorite place to relax. He diverted
his eyes from the television to look at her, a smile forming on his
lips as it always did until he actually saw her. Faedra’s
face fell as she watched her father’s smile vanish, his eyes widen
with horror, which then changed to a look of worry.
    She could only imagine what she looked like.
Covered from head to toe in dirt, clothing torn, and bruises now
appearing on her arms. She had a feeling the bruises were going to
cover her body much more extensively when she got around to peeling
off her clothes.
    “What on earth happened to you?” he
cried.
    “I’m okay, Dad,” she lied. In reality, she
felt like she’d just gone ten rounds with a heavyweight boxer. Her
body ached all over.
    “Well, you don’t look okay. Are you going to
tell me what happened?”
    Faedra shuffled over to the sofa, plunked
herself down rather unceremoniously, and winced as she made contact
with the cushions.
    “Something spooked Gypsy in the woods. She
reared and threw me,” Faedra explained with indifference. She
thought it best to leave out the bit about the glowing yellow eyes
and Faen’s distinct aversion to them, at this juncture.
    “Well, that’s not like her. She’s never
thrown you before and you’ve been through those woods hundreds of
times.”
    “I know, Dad, but I have myself to blame for
becoming complacent