<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Tara hurried into the woods, leading them deeper and deeper into the trees. Suddenly she slowed and turned to the boys, motioning for them to be quiet. She crept towards a clearing where a little cabin stood. Christopher's eyes widened. "Wow," he whispered. Tara looked around the clearing carefully. The cabin seemed deserted. Conan crept up behind her. "I'll go first." Tara nodded and Conan quickly made his way across the clearing. He stopped at the door of the cabin and slowly opened it. After a quick glance around he turned back to Tara and Christopher. He nodded his head, "All clear." Christopher quietly ran to Conan. "You sure it's all clear?" He whispered. "Yes," Conan said dryly. "I've got eyes, haven't I?" Tara brushed past him into the cabin. "Just forget it, Conan." The cabin was small and dimly lit. One of the windows was shattered and shards of glass lay on the floor below it. A thick layer of dust lay over the few pieces of furniture. A heavy table was pushed up against one of the walls, taking up most of the room on that side. The top of the table was less dusty than the rest of the cabin. A small stack of papers sat on the table, each piece bearing the coat of arms of the enemy kingdom. A few random crates and wooden objects rested against the wall. "Wow," Christopher gazed around. "This is very interesting." Tara was already looking through the papers and Conan peered curiously into one of the crates. "Be careful." Christopher warned, but still couldn't resist looking at one of the papers. Tara nodded and looked at the paper too. "Did you hear that?" asked Conan urgently. "Hear what?" "It sounded like a footstep or something like that . . ." A sharp snap was heard. Conan froze. "You heard that," he whispered. "We need to go." Christopher scrambled to the window, but it was too late. A shadow darkened the window and doorway and he froze. "Maybe it's deer?" Tara whispered. Her hopes were dashed when a voice thick with a foreign accent asked angrily, "What are you doing here?" Christopher took a shaky breath. "Um, sir, we're kind of lost and saw this cabin." The man raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Is that right?" He nodded slowly. Another man joined him in the doorway. He narrowed his eyes at Christopher and crossed his arms. Then he turned to the other man and talked to him briefly in another language. Then he turned back to the children in the cabin. "Take them." Christopher thought quickly, then held out his arms. Better not start a fight, especially with Tara, he thought. Tara moved closer to Christopher. "Are we going to be okay?" she whispered. Conan tried to put on a brave face as they were led away. "Don't worry. I'll think of something." The first man led the three out of the cabin and stopped at the edge of the clearing. The other one, evidentially the one in charge, stayed inside for a moment longer. "What is he doing?" Conan asked. A moment later the question was answered. The smell of smoke floated through the air, and soon thin tendrils of smoke curled out of the broken window and open doorway. The leader came out of the house. "Let's go!" he barked. In the blink of an eye, several other people were standing in the clearing with them. Masks covered the lower portion of their faces. The man shoved Christopher, "Get moving." Tara looked at him in indignation, "Where are you taking us?!" The man just smirked. The party moved away, deeper into the forest. Behind a tree a shadow stirred slightly. Unknown to the captors, they were being watched . . . <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Written by me and @Dunedain3220 Next ~
